


Krillin vs The Universe's Worst

by HT912



Series: Vs Series [2]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2019-10-27 14:36:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 89,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17768642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HT912/pseuds/HT912
Summary: Light years from Earth faced against an empire led by a ruthless dictator how strong can a human become?





	1. Chapter 1

  **Author’s Note: Hello everyone! Welcome to the second story of the VS series, I’m really excited to get this started. If you are just joining us first off thank you for reading I’m very glad you are here. This is a sequel to the story Krillin vs the Saiyans. This being the second installment in what I hope to be a long-running series I highly suggest you read the first story to make sense of everything.  I'll be posting the chapters for this story every two days just like the previous story until we catch up to the latest chapter.  That's all for now so please enjoy the first chapter of the second series: Broken.**

* * *

 It was 5:00 in the morning. The sun had yet to rise but was ready to start as the night in the sky began to dim making way for the light. On a small island that only consisted of two palm trees, a lawn chair, and a small pink house with the words ‘Kame House’ painted on its side, sat Krillin. Still dressed in his nightwear with neither shoes nor socks on his feet the monk sat at the edge of the beach thinking deeply. His right arm still bandaged hung in a sling motionless. The waves of the sea lapping up the surrounding sand were the only sound for miles, that and the loud snoring of Master Roshi. It had been five days since the battle with the saiyans, two days since Krillin had been discharged from the hospital, and three days after his conversation with Mr. Popo. Despite the hours since Krillin couldn’t stop the talk replying in his head over and over.

 _To replace him, as the guardian of Earth._ Mr. Popo had been able to say that with such ease as if he had simply been asking for the time. Krillin hadn’t been as smooth with his response.

_Wa…what?!_

Mr. Popo had laughed fairly loudly the sight of the monk’s surprise must have been funny enough.

_Worry not Krillin, just because you are worthy does not mean you will be forced to take the position. It simply means that Kami saw potential in you, potential great enough to entrust the future of Earth in your hands._

Krillin remembered that hearing that had done little to calm his nerves.

 _When Kami first foresaw his own death he began to look for a successor._ Mr. Popo continued, _Though he was unsure of how much time he had left he confessed to me that you were someone who could replace him. A human with a heart great enough to risk his life for his world while asking for nothing in return._

 _But I couldn’t do that._ Krillin had said _. I didn’t fight for Earth._

_Precisely why Kami had stressed you only had the potential to become to the guardian. He believed that one day you would be capable of such a feat._

_He thought I could?_

_He did, and now so do I._

Krillin had paused for a moment before asking. _What does it mean to be a guardian? What can I do?_

 _I do not know._ Mr. Popo had said firmly.

_You don’t?_

_No, I have never been the guardian and I never will. It is not my place._

_…if I was the guardian could I restore the dragon balls? Ask Shenron to bring Kami back like that?_

_No, the dragon balls were created by Kami. No guardian before him was capable of such a feat. Apparently, it is something only namekians can accomplish._

_Oh._

Mr. Popo had smiled, _do not worry about this Krillin if Kami can be restored to life then you will have no reason to fear this._

_And if he can’t?_

_Then this will be a path you must consider._

The sun rising an hour later hit Krillin’s eyes with enough light his mind snapped back to the present. With a heavy sigh, the monk slowly stood up feeling the mixture of water and sand between his toes.

 _Mr. Popo said he could fulfill Kami’s role for the two months it will take to get to Namek and back but after that, if Kami hasn’t returned Earth will need a new guardian_. Krillin let out another sigh as he hit the sand off of his backside with his left hand. _I just never thought it might have to be me._

Stretching as far as his injuries would allow Krillin sent out a straight punch from his left hand. The wound on his shoulder twitched but the monk was able to ignore it for three more punches before the pain overcame him.

_I can’t even train in this state, how am I going to be ready for the trip to Namek in time?_

While the doctor at the West City hospital had cleared him to return home Krillin’s arm had yet to fully heal. Flowing ki through the limb had accelerated his healing process but it was still impossible to move on his own.

_No point in trying to sleep either, guess I’ll just wait out here before making breakfast._

“You’re up early.”

Turning Krillin was greeted by the sight of Master Roshi standing in the doorway, already wearing his sunglasses and turtle shell despite the early hour.

“Master Roshi, I didn’t expect to see you awake until noon.”

“Couldn’t sleep, much like yourself I guess. You shouldn’t push yourself so early in the morning.”

“I just wanted to watch the sunrise.”

“You never were very good at lying not even as a kid. You were trying to train weren’t you?”

“…yeah, having trouble with this arm though can’t even throw a proper punch.”

“And you never will again if you don’t give your body time to heal.”

“Master Roshi will all due respect I don’t really have that time to spare.”

The old hermit looked at his student for a moment before coming to a private decision.

“Maybe I can help, come over here sit by me.”

With nothing to lose Krillin joined his master and sat down on the porch of the Kame house. The old man sat down next to the monk and the two spent a second looking at over the sea together.

“Close your eyes.” Master Roshi said slowly.

Krillin obeyed subjecting himself to the darkness within his mind.

“Try to imagine yourself standing in your center, not how you are now but how you would like to appear.”

“What does that mean?” Krillin said with his eyes still closed.

“Also, no talking.”

The monk wanted to roll his eyes but thought better of it since they were currently closed. Following the instructions the best he could Krillin pictured himself planted at the center of his mind. Here he saw himself without injury both arms hanging by his side as they were before the fight with the saiyans.

“Good, now try to move around a bit but remain still. The only thing that should be moving is the you inside of your mind.”

Giving up on trying to make sense of the old man’s words Krillin focused on picturing himself flexing his muscles and moving around. Eventually, he started to punch at the darkness the image of himself getting clearer and clearer the longer he spent in his own head.

_Oh, I get it, guess I don’t have to worry about hurting myself in here._

_Precisely._

Hearing another voice in his head was surprising enough to jolt Krillin’s eyes back open but he remained still and turned to see a perfect representation of his master glowing in the darkness of his mind.

_Master Roshi? What?...how are you here?_

_I entered your mind; just a little something my master taught me when I was younger. It’s called image training. By yourself, you’ll be able to practice as much as you want without the risk of hurting yourself, and with enough energy, two students of martial arts can link their minds together and train in a space between._

_You can do that?_ Krillin thought still having trouble coming to grips with this.

_I can do a lot of things; this is just one more thing I never taught you._

_Well, why now?_

_Because you need it. Now show me what you can do._

_What?_

_I haven’t seen you fight since the Tenkaichi Budokai I want to see what you’ve learned._

_Okay, I guess._

Focusing his energy Krillin started to go through his basics, slowly at first trying to get used to the sensation of being watched by another person in his own head. Soon he was flowing through a series of hard kicks and punches achieving feats that would not be possible if his eyes were open. Eventually, Krillin slowed and came to a stop before returning to his center.

_How was that?_

_I don’t know, what did you think?_

_Wha…you were supposed to be watching me!_

_I was, I saw you punch and kick, not bad but that wasn’t what I had in mind._

_What do you want?_

_I want to see you run, just like the old days._ Master Roshi thought obviously having fun.

_…..really?_

_Running is a good test of speed and strength, so I’m wondering if you got any better at it._

_There’s nowhere to run to! There’s nothing here!_ Krillin thought pointing out the nothingness that surrounded both master and student.

_Stop stalling and run ya big baby!_

Rolling his eyes Krillin crouched down into a running position. Looking forward he watched his master make his way to roughly 100 meters away before raising his hand into the air.

_Ready?_

Krillin nodded.

 _Go!_ Master Roshi thought swinging his arm down. Yet his arm hadn’t even returned to his side before Krillin had crossed the invisible finish line.

 _How was that?_ Krillin thought with a hint of pride.

 _I dunno, I don’t have my stopwatch._ Master Roshi laughed as his student groaned. _But I guess that was faster than 10.4 seconds._

_You remembered my time?_

_Of course, I did! I’ve got a mind for numbers after all._

_You do?_

_Can’t go forgetting Bulma’s and Launch’s three sizes now can I?_

_Ugh._

_Alright, I’ve got a good handle on your physical strength how about your control over ki? Have you learned anything new?_

_A few things._

Krillin started by enclosing himself in a sphere of ki.

 _Oh, a barrier that’s clever._ Master Roshi thought looking over the ball of energy.

_I learned it from Chiaotzu, but I’m not done yet._

Krillin shrank that same sphere until it had outlined his body. _It can also act as armor._

 _Very clever._ Master Roshi thought, very impressed. _Anything else?_

Krillin smiled before he brought his ki up to his head and let it shoot out of both eyes. _I can fire off a ki blast from my eyes like Piccolo and even my feet like Goku._

_That must have come in handy._

_Actually, Vegeta was too strong for any of my ki attacks to work. Well almost._

Raising his left hand above his head Krillin quickly formed a disc of energy and left it spinning in his hand. _I cut his side open with this._ Krillin then threw the disc and watch it fly out into the distance.

_You came up with that on your own?_

_Pretty much, it can also cut through energy as well if I put enough ki into it._

_Impressive._

_Yeah, too bad Vegeta saw me use it and copied me._

_He did?_

_That’s how he got my arm._ Krillin thought thumping his right shoulder. _But before he did I used this to cut into his knee when he was a great ape._

Placing two fingertips on his forehead Krillin concentrated until for a moment before his fingers started to crackle with energy. Shoving them forward the focused energy erupted outward into two long strings of ki. One spun around the other acting as a drill with the other streaked through the darkness like a bullet. The force of the blast almost forced Krillin backward and it wasn’t long before the spiral faded into the distance following the disc.

_I learned that from Piccolo._

_He taught you that?_ Master Roshi thought with no small amount of surprise.

_Not exactly._

_Ah I see, you learned from watching again. Looks like you’ve got a good range of techniques._

_Yeah, too bad I can’t use any of them with this arm._ Krillin thought with a heavy tone.

_Rest would help with that._

_Yeah well, sleep isn’t coming to me easily these days._

Master Roshi paused; he watched his student practice a bit more before walking toward the monk with a determined look behind his sunglasses. _How about a quick spar?_

_Huh really?_

_Really._

_No offense Master Roshi but I don’t know how effective that would be. I was stronger then you before training with Kami, now I don’t know if you could touch me._

_Humor an old man won’t you._ Master Roshi thought before sliding into a stance.

 _All right you asked for it._ Krillin shrugged before taking a stance of his own.

Studying his master the monk watched for any sudden movements or anything out of the ordinary. Unsure where this surge of confidence had come from had put Krillin on edge and he still wasn’t sure what to expect.

 _Well, anything he throws at me I should be able to handle._ Krillin thought to himself. _I’ll wait for him to make the first move._

Eventually, the old man did make a move. Moving his left hand to the side while his right hand with brought up to face level. Then he brought his right hand down to the side while his left hand rose up slowly acting like they were trying to grab something that wasn’t there. The monk tracked the hermit’s movements very closely as Master Roshi’s hands started to weave back and forth, back and forth. As Krillin followed Master Roshi’s hand movements he started to feel heavy and sluggish. There was a soft tempo to the hand’s motions that started to lull the monk.

_Wait…what is he…doing?_

Krillin tried to ignore the hands but made the mistake of locking eyes with his master. As soon as he had the old man’s eyes went wide and Krillin felt a pulse pass through him like a bolt of lightning. Then the singing started.

_Go to sleep little boy go to sleep. Go to sleep little boy go to sleep. You’re a good boy little boy now go to sleep._

 As soon as the final work had been spoken the monk felt his eyes close and the strange sensation of falling asleep within your mind quickly took hold. Darkness surrounded him and even though he could feel himself falling forward he never felt himself hitting the ground.

Time passed and when he awoke he was no longer in his own head but instead looking at the underside of the red awning of the Kame House. Slowly rising up he realized that he had fallen asleep on the porch and that the soft morning sky had been replaced by the red of early evening. 

 _Forgot he could do that._ Krillin thought to himself while he muffled a yawn.

“You’re awake.”

Krillin didn’t have to turn around to know that his master had a wide smile on his face.

“I want a rematch.”

“Of course you do. No doubt you would win that one so I’m taking my victory and running away.”

“Never going hear the end of this am I?

“Not likely.” The old man said with a grin.

“Ugh, What time is it?”

“5:48, you slept for almost 12 hours.”

“Really?”

“Do you feel better?”

Krillin took stock of himself and aside from the stiffness of sleeping on a porch and the soft pressure of his shoulder wound he felt good.

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

“Glad to hear it.” Master Roshi said sitting down next to his student. “You weren’t screaming this time.”

“You heard that?” Krillin said a little ashamed.

“Hard not to, woke me up this morning.”

“Oh…sorry.”

“Don’t be, I understand. Do you want to talk about it?”

Krillin paused not sure if he did. _May as well, don’t think anyone else is going to ask. Though can’t say I feel like talking about Mr. Popo’s offer at the moment._

“It’s nightmares mostly.”

“About Vegeta?”

“Yeah, sometimes. But a lot of them are about Nappa.”

“Nappa?”

“The other saiyan,” Krillin said slowly. “We…I didn’t just leave him unconscious.”

“We saw him while we were looking for Yamcha and Chiaotzu. He had a hole in his head. Did Piccolo do that?”

“No, I did.”

“Ah…I see.”

Master and student didn’t say a lot after that, instead opting to watch the sea flowing on and off the tiny island.

“What did you guys do with the body?” Krillin asked breaking the quiet.

“We buried it miles away from the battlefield. No one else is going to find it unless they’re looking for it.”

“Oh, okay.”

The silence returned stronger, but only for a moment.

“The scariest part is that I don’t regret it,” Krillin said gripping his left hand tightly. “He would have done the same thing to the entire world, to billions of people and wouldn’t have thought twice about it. I stopped that, but he was still alive wasn’t he? Shouldn’t I feel something? Some kind of sadness? Something?”

“That depends on what you want. Do you want to feel sorry for him?” Master Roshi said softly.

“No, I hated him and I still do, he killed Yamcha and Chiaotzu. Yet even after avenging them, I think he still took a part of me, something I can’t get back. At the time I was shaking afterward, but now thinking back on it I…I don’t feel anything. I killed someone. Even if he was a monster shouldn’t I feel sad over that?”

 “Unfortunately that just may be the state of things for you. This battle has changed you there is no doubt about that and you may never be the same again. But you have to learn that not being the same is alright. You are still yourself just a different form of you, and that’s okay. Do you know what that makes you?”

“Human,” Krillin answered with a soft smile. “Kami said something similar.”

“And here I thought I was being original.”

 Krillin let out a little laugh and his master grinned in return. Before the two could continue their conversation the phone started ringing.

“Blasted thing, we really need an answering machine,” Master Roshi said standing up.

“I can get it.”

“No need I’m already up.”

The old man walked inside with green screen door slamming shut behind him.

_Human, I wonder if I can really call myself that now._

“Krillin!”

The monk turned his head to see his master almost jumping through the screen door of the Kame house.

“That was Bulma! You have to go to the West City hospital!”

“What? Why?”

“It’s Tien! He’s awake!”

* * *

 

“Hi, I’m Krillin, here to see Tien Shinhan.”

“Yes, are you friend or family?” The nurse behind the front desk of the West City hospital said with a smile.

“Friend.”

“Alright, it’s going to be a while before you will be allowed in, please take a seat in the waiting area.”

“Thank you.”

After Master Roshi had told Krillin the good news the monk had wasted no time in jumping in the shower, changing into a fresh pair of clean clothes and then flying to the hospital, leaving the old hermit to call around and help spread the news. Claiming an empty spot on a long couch in the corner Krillin left himself relax.

_Tien’s awake. I’m so glad._

Letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding Krillin slumped down in the chair as far as his shoulder wound would let him.

_No doubt he’ll still be in a fragile state but Launch will be overjoyed and the fact that Chiaotzu may be able to come back will also help._

Krillin closed his eyes for a moment, despite the long nap he had taken the amount of energy it had taken to fly here had left him a little tired.

_I wonder how he’ll take the news about Vegeta._

“Krillin?”

His name shook him out of the light sleep he had fallen into.

“Wha?” Rubbing the tired out of his eyes with his one working hand restored his ability to function and Krillin turned to see the wife of his best friend and the mother of Gohan.

“Chichi? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to see Goku, may I sit?” The ox princess asked gesturing to the seat next to the monk.

“Y-yeah of course,” Krillin said while scooting to the side.

Chichi sat down without a response and for a very long moment, neither of them said a word, the only noise between them was the hustle of the hospital. During the silence, Krillin noticed that the ox princess had a backpack that was almost twice her size.

_She carried that big thing by herself? I guess she’d have to be at least that strong to put up with Goku._

Krillin smirked at the thought but it quickly faded as the silence between them continued.

  _This is awkward, not even sure what I should say. Sorry I traumatized your son in our fight to save the world? Sorry, your husband’s an alien? Sorry I let Gohan get taken away by Piccolo who I thought was a demon but is actually another alien?  Sorry, I-_

“I wanted to thank you.” Chichi said bringing Krillin back out of his own head, “For taking care of Gohan.”

“Oh, uh you… you’re welcome!” Krillin said with a little fumble. “Is…is he alright?”

“No, he is still very upset,” Chichi said her voice growing sad. “He’s back home with my father, he should be studying but the death of that monster has him completely heartbroken.”

“Monster? You mean Piccolo?”

“Who else? He kidnapped Gohan when he was only four, plus you saw what he did at the Tenkaichi Budokai, he almost killed Goku.”

“…he also helped to save the world.”

“That’s doesn’t erase his crimes.”

“No, but it’s a start. I think your son could see that. I like to believe they grew close because of your son’s influence, I’d like to believe Piccolo even softened because of him. He did help me in protecting Gohan after all.”

Chichi blinked in surprise. “You trusted him? Piccolo?”

“Not at first,” Krillin confessed. “But if I didn’t during the fight we all would have died.”

The ox princess grew quiet as she thought about what Krillin had said.

_Maybe I should have just agreed with her._

“Your arm,” Chichi said slowly, “Is it okay?”

“My arm? Oh yeah, it’s fine no problems here!” Krillin said nearly tripping over his own words.

Chichi paused as she looked over the monk making it clear she didn’t believe him, “Have you seen Goku yet?”

“Goku? No, I wasn’t sure if I’d be allowed to.”

“You will if you’re with me. Would you like too?”

“Yeah, but I’m waiting to see Tien.”

“You can see him after, come on.”

Standing up quickly with her giant backpack in tow Chichi went to the front desk where Krillin could only assume she demanded the monk get clearance to see his friend. Chichi and the nurse had a bit of a back and forth before the ox princess waved Krillin over.

_Guess she convinced them. I suppose she is used to always getting her way._

As soon as Krillin had joined Chichi the two traveled deeper into the hospital walking through its halls. As they walked Krillin could see that his best friend’s wife was in much better shape compared to when he had last seen her. 

_I had nothing but bad news for her. In a way, everything was fine until I arrived at her home._

Giving a sideways glance at the ox princess Krillin could see that her beauty had not diminished in the least during the past year. Despite the effort, she had to exert carrying the heavy backpack the monk couldn’t help but get wrapped up in her allure.

_Looks like Goku still has all the luck._

 “We’re here.”

Krillin nodded and waited for Chichi to open the door before following her inside.

“Goku, you’ve got a visitor.”

Walking into the room Krillin was greeted by Goku in what could only be described as a metal cocoon with wheels on its bottom. The saiyan was encased in a sort of healing pod with only his head sticking out. That same head had been bandaged several times to the point where Goku’s trademark hair had been completely covered up. Krillin was horrified at what he saw, the extent of Goku’s injuries was greater than he had imagined. For a moment he wasn’t sure what to say, but that dilemma was quickly solved when Goku caught sight of his friend.

“Krillin! There you are I was getting worried!” the saiyan said with a wild grin.

The blinked in surprise was a second before falling into a smile himself. “You were worried about me? Goku it looks like you had a building fell on you!”

“Actually it was a giant monkey.”

“I know Goku I was there,” Krillin said with a laugh. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too, glad they finally let you in to see me.”

“Wouldn’t have been able to without Chichi, I was waiting to see Tien when we ran into each other, he just woke up.”

“He’s up? That’s great!” Goku said with a wild grin.

Krillin smiled back as he walked over to a chair near Goku and sat down.

As if on cue Goku turned to look at the ox princess, “Hey Chi did you get me any food?”

“Goku you just had dinner.” His wife responded

“Come on Chichi you know this hospital food can’t compare to your cooking!”

Chichi rolled her eyes smiled and took off the giant backpack which landed on the ground with a hard thud, opening it up Chichi started taking out a dozen different dishes and placing them on a nearby table.

“I had a feeling you would be hungry.”

“You’re the best Chi!” Goku said his entire face lighting up.

As Krillin watched the couple together he realized that they were fine. They were completely fine with each other.

_She doesn’t seem to care he’s a saiyan._

The monk could only stare as the husband and wife go about their dinner. With Goku eating a vast majority of it, thanks to being fed by Chichi who was sitting down on a nearby chair while she eating her smaller share out of a bowl she had brought. Krillin recalled the feeling that had encased him when he visited the small house on 439 East District. The small little house had felt warm.

_And now I’m looking at the reason why._

“Krillin, would you like some?”

Chichi’s question surprised Krillin but he then realized he hadn’t eaten anything all day.

“Cumh on Krelli is’s delicious!” Goku tried to say with his mouth filled with food.

“…sure.” The monk said with a smile.

Chichi pulled out an extra bowl and an extra pair of chopsticks she had brought and filled the bowl up. She started to hand the bowl over but realized that with his shoulder wound Krillin wouldn’t be able to eat.

“Looks like I’m feeding two martial artists today.” The ox princess laughed.

Picking up a piece of chicken Chichi blew on it carefully to cool it before extending it toward the monk.

“Here you go.”

Krillin couldn’t fight the blush that crept over his face but accepted the food and bit into it. Almost immediately Krillin eyes went wide from the amazing taste bursting from the cooked bird.

“This…this is delicious!”

“Thank you,” Chichi said with a smile before picking up another piece of food for her husband. “With Goku’s appetite, I do get a lot of practice.”

As the three ate Goku started ranting about how great the food tasted and Chichi started to laugh as her husband struggled to speak and chew at the same time. While Krillin watched the two talk and eat a small pang of jealously echoed throughout the monk.

_Stop, there’s no reason for that._

Eventually all the food Chichi had brought was eaten and the ox princess was in the process of putting everything away insisting she do it on her own even after Krillin offered to help.

“Thanks, Chi, tasty as always!”

“Yes thank you, Chichi it was really good.”

“You’re welcome; now Goku didn’t you have something you wanted to ask Krillin?”

“Oh, that’s right!” Goku said his excitement obvious, “Krillin you have to tell me, how did you beat Vegeta?”

 _That’s what he wanted to know?_ “What do you mean? You saw it; you were there at the end.”

“Not that part, how did you get back up? I heard Vegeta going after you but then all of a sudden you got back on your feet how?”

“…I got lucky. Korin had a spare senzu he gave me before the fight, I gave it to Gohan near the start but he gave it back to me when I sent him home. I put it in my pocket and had wanted to give it to you after I found you, but I lost it. It was just by chance I found it again toward the end.”

“Huh, okay I thought it was some sort of new technique you learned. What happened next after you got up? I didn’t see the whole fight.”

 “…Goku, to be honest, I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“Really? Why not?”

Krillin looked at his friend eagerly anticipating an answer and he couldn’t help but feel conflicted.

_I still have nightmares about everything and he can just talk about like it was a movie._

“Goku, if Krillin doesn’t want to talk about it you can’t force him,” Chichi said while she continued to clean up.

“Alright, I just wanted to know if you used anything like the Kaio-Ken or something.”

“Kaio-what?”

“The Kaio-Ken, it’s another technique I learned from King Kai. It's like a massive upsurge of energy. Everything is heightened: power, speed, even hearing and vision improve dramatically. You sort of become a super-self. But it can only be sustained for a short time, so you have to get the job done quickly.”

“Woah, I sensed your energy fluctuating a lot during the fight. Was it because of that?”

“Yeah, but there are some drawbacks to using it. If I don’t restrain my ki just right while I’m controlling it, I could kill myself. I almost did!” Goku said with a laugh.

 “….I see.”

 “But I’ll have to use it again once I’m back on my feet. We’ll need to get stronger as fast as we can now that the dragonballs are gone.”

“Oh that’s right you haven’t heard,” Krillin said feeling bad his best friend had been left out. “Goku there may be a way to bring Kami back.”

“What?”

So Krillin went into detail about everything that had happened. Piccolo and Kami’s origins, the spaceship Mr. Popo flew, Bulma’s plan to leave for Namek in a couple of days, and the possible existence of another set of dragonballs.

“That’s great news!” Goku exclaimed. “So Earth actually might get it’s guardian back!”

“Yeah, as long as we can pull this off,” Krillin said a little conflicted.

 _I shouldn’t mention the talk with Mr. Popo yet, right? As long as Kami comes back then I don’t need to worry._ “I wish you could go Goku, but you’re in worse condition than me and if Vegeta comes back we’ll need you here.”

“Well I’m still waiting for a senzu but who is going?”

“Hopefully King Kai is correct when he says the Namekians are peaceful but I’m going just to be sure and Bulma’s coming in case something happens with the ship, but…” Krillin looked at Chichi who was still in the middle of cleaning up. “…we still need strong fighters on this trip ….so we were also thinking about asking Gohan to come.”

As soon as Krillin had finished speaking he could hear the ox princess freeze. She wasted no time walking up to the monk with fire in her steps, fury in her eyes, and a dirty bowl still in her hands Chichi said, “No.”

“Chichi-” Goku started.

“Don’t Goku.” Chichi snapped

“I know it’s not fair Chichi but-” Krillin began.

“He’s just a child! He shouldn’t have to do this!”

As she screamed Chichi threw down the bowl in her hands which cracked on the ground the impact scattering the pieces across the room. The outburst was followed by a dead silence that was only broken by a mother’s plea. “I just got him back. Don’t take him away again.”

Krillin looked at the husband and wife unsure of what to say.

 “Chi-”

Chichi moved away from her husband before turning toward the exit, “….I’ll go see if I can find something to clean up the bowl.”

Without another word, the ox princess left the hospital room leaving the dazed human and saiyan alone.

_Was that, my fault? Maybe I should have just talked about it with Goku first …I shouldn’t have said anything._

“I’ll talk to her,” Goku said catching the monk’s attention. “It’ll be okay Krillin.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“…I haven’t really thanked you yet.” Goku said his tone growing serious.

“Thanked me?”

“For saving my family.”

“Huh? But you did after you gave me a senzu.”

 “I thanked you for saving Gohan, I didn’t thank you for saving my family.”

“Oh well I mean that’s-”

“Krillin, thank you.”

“…you’re welcome.”

The two friends shared a moment before it was interrupted by the hospital door swinging open, instead of Chichi stood a nurse entering with a soft smile.

“Mr. Krillin, Mr. Tien is ready to see you now.”

A wild smile appeared on the monk’s face. “I’ll be right there.”

The nurse nodded before closing leaving and closing the door behind her.

“Make sure you tell Tien I said hi,” said Goku “I’d tell him myself but I don’t think I’m going anywhere.”

“I will,” Krillin said with a smile before leaving the room.

* * *

 

Following the nurse closely it wasn’t long before the two of them arrived at Tien’s room.

“Mr. Tien is right in here.” said the nurse.

“Thank you.”

The nurse nodded before making her way back to her desk, leaving Krillin alone in front of the door.

_Okay, here goes._

Opening the door with his left hand the monk was greeted with the soft beep of a heart monitor and the sight of Tien laying in bed covered in injuries. Walking up to the side of the bed Krillin got a good look at his friend. Though his injuries weren’t as severe as Goku’s a good portion of his body had been wrapped in bandages. While his face still held some bruises from being tossed around during the fight Krillin could see that the majority of doctor and nurse’s care had been focused around Tien’s lost limb, his right hand. The stub had been bandaged very thoroughly to prevent any excesses bleeding. Looking over the wound Krillin couldn’t stop a rush of memories from the fight blare in his head.

**“What do you think you’re doing?” Tien spat.**

**“I’m stopping you from killing yourself.”**

**“At least I would take the saiyan with me.”**

**“That’s not the plan.”**

**“Screw your plan! Yamcha and Chiaotzu are dead!”**

**“Killing yourself isn’t going to bring them back.”**

**“No, but at least Chiaotzu wouldn’t be alone.”**

Dragging himself out of it Krillin tried to relax by breathing deeply only to discover that his left hand was shaking out of fear.

“Looks like we’ve got a lot of healing ahead of us, old friend.” The monk said with a laugh.

“Krillin?”

His name was spoken so softly the monk almost missed it but it was just loud enough for Krillin to turn and see Tien with both eyes open.

“Tien!...how are you feeling?”

“…I’m not dead.”

“I think that’s an understatement.”

“…your arm.”

“It’s not as bad as yours.”

“…the fight did we?”

“We won.”

“How? The last thing I remember Vegeta got back up, he was going to kill everyone who else-”

“We’re okay; Piccolo was the last one we lost.”

“Then, how-”

I got lucky, I used the senzu Gohan gave me.”

“That’s right…he did mention that after I woke up. Good. The doctors told me it’s been days since I got here.”

“It’s been five days since the fight. We weren’t sure you were going to wake up at all.”

“Glad I did, though I wish I had seen you take care of the bastard for what they did to Chiaotzu,” Tien said relaxing a little.

Krillin flinched, “Well Tien, you see-”

“Tien!”

The two men looked at the entrance of the room to see Launch with blue hair completely out of breath and panting heavily.

“You’re awake!”

“Launch.”

The blue-haired girl dashed to Tien’s bed almost knocking over Krillin in the process.

“…you’re awake.”

“Yeah…I am.” Tien said with a soft smile.

“I knew you would, I’m…I’m so glad.” Launch said before a few stray tears started to form before she quickly wiped them away. “When I heard you were up I ran straight here.”

“Thanks for coming. It’s good to see you Launch.”

The blue-haired girl smiled but the gesture faded quickly. “I’m sorry about Chiaotzu.”

Tien flinched but nodded slowly. “I wish he could have been here too.”

“Maybe he can be,” Krillin said slowly.

 “What? What are you talking about?”

“You haven’t told him?” Launch asked.

“I was just about to.”

So Krillin once again explained the plan to go to Namek and ask for their dragonballs trying his hardest to emphasize that there was only a chance this would work.

“So Chiaotzu can be brought back?”

“Yeah, along with Yamcha, Yajirobi, and East City. Plus if we revive Piccolo as well then Kami will come back which will-”

“Restore the dragonballs here on Earth!” Tien finished. “Do you think it’ll work?”

“Not sure, but we have to try.”

“You’ll hear no argument from me,” Tien said struggling to get up. “When do we leave?”

“What? You’re staying here you still need to heal.”

“I’ve done enough resting; I’m not going to just leave Chiaotzu when he needs me.”

 “Krillin’s right Tien,” Launch said pushing him back down into his bed. “You still need to heal.”

“But-”

“Goku is staying here too, Korin said he’ll have some senzu beans ready in a month but neither of you are ready for space travel.”

Tien said nothing but seemed to obey, if only a little.

“Besides,” Launch continued, “We’ll need you here if Vegeta comes back.”

Launch’s voice hung in the air for what seemed like forever and as soon as the sweet sound had faded, the air in the room changed.

“Comes…back?” Tien said his voice shaking, “…what do you mean?”

The three-eyed martial artist looked at Krillin.

“Krillin…what does she mean?... I thought you killed him.”

“Tien-”

“What does she mean Krillin!” Tien shouted the soft beeps on his heart monitor starting to increase their pace. “I thought you said we had won!”

Launch had recoiled back with Krillin unable to find the words Tien needed to hear.

“Answer me!”

Krillin flinched.

“…I let him go.”

In an instant Tien had gotten out of his bed grabbed the monk’s shirt with his remaining hand and shoved him against the hospital wall. Despite his injuries, Tien’s anger had given him enough strength to hold Krillin up high enough that the monk’s feet couldn’t even touch the ground.

“Tien!” Launch shouted unable to do anymore.

“You…you let him go?” Tien said his grip tighten applying more pressure.

“I…” Krillin wheezed.

“You saw what he did to our friends, to East City, he was going to kill everyone, and you…you just let him go?”

Krillin coughed unable to answer.

“What was all that training for? Why did we fight so hard? Why did we have to die if you were just going to let him go?! WHAT WAS THE POINT?!” Tien screamed while softening his grip just enough to hear what the monk had to say.

“…Goku…Goku asked me too.”

“What?...why? Why would Goku do that? I don’t unde-” Tien’s eyes went wide as his sentence died in his mouth, the realization hitting him hard.

“A saiyan…he’s a saiyan like Vegeta…he wanted to fight him again, didn’t he? Didn’t he?!”

Krillin said nothing, but Tien had his answer. Almost laughing Tien let go of his friend letting the monk fall back to his feet.

“No Tien there was another reaso-”

The punch came out hard stopping Krillin’s words dead and knocking the monk completely onto the hospital floor.

“Tien!” Launch shouted. “What are you-”

“I believed in you.”

His friend’s words had Krillin shaking as he slowly got up trying to find his balance.

“We all did, I didn’t want to at first; I thought Kami was making a mistake. You weren’t Goku, you were the furthest thing from him. How could we win with you in charge?”

Krillin said nothing unable to even look Tien in the eye.

“But you showed us we were wrong, the plans you put together, the way you pushed yourself harder than any of the rest of us, your damn promises! We believed that! We believed in you!”

Krillin said nothing in response, how could he.

“So despite all that, all that planning and preparation, all that time working together, all that trust we put into you when the time came. You couldn’t even believe in yourself.”

Krillin said nothing, but the tears he was holding back had started to flow.

“No, you listened to Goku, Goku who just wanted another fight, who always wants another fight!” Tien spat looming over the small monk, “So why Krillin? If you were just going to throw it all away why did you stop me from attacking Nappa? Why did you stop me when I could have been with Chiaotzu? WHY?!”

“Because I asked him to!”

The two martial artists froze and both of them looked over to Launch whose face was red and covered in tears.

“I asked him to keep you safe. He…he promised he would.”

“You?” Tien asked studying the blue-haired girl.

Launch flinched and looked away, “I, I didn’t want to lose you.”

Tien’s surprise was obvious as he stared at Launch for a long moment, but no sooner had his shock faded was it replaced with renewed anger.

“No one asked you to do that.”

“But I-”

“You can’t lose what you never had.”

Launch recoiled as if bitten but said nothing in response.

“Leave.” The three-eyed warrior spat. “Both of you.”

“Tien-” Krillin started.

“Leave!”

Krillin watched as Launch obeyed holding herself like she had been cut. The monk looked at his friend one last time only to see him turn away. Hobbling toward the exit the monk stopped before he left.

“…I’m… sorry, Tien.”

“I’m going to Namek.” Tien said slowly, “Not just to save everyone and restore the dragonballs, but to make sure it actually gets done.”

Krillin eyes went wide at Tien’s words and he was going to fight it but the argument died before it could be formed and the monk found himself leaving his friend alone in the hospital room. Now outside and looking around Krillin caught the sight of Launch quickly walking down the hall trying to run away from what just happened. Krillin made no attempt to stop her and soon lost sight of the blue-haired girl as she rounded a corner. Almost numb from the experience the monk started to walk in the opposite direction looking for another exit.

(cut)

 _He’s right._ Krillin thought to himself as walked along the West City streets trying to put as much distance between him and the hospital as he could.

_I put this entire planet in jeopardy. Why did I listen to him? I knew what I had to do why did I stop?_

Stopping at a corner with no else around Krillin waited for the light to change with no idea where he was even going.

_I didn’t save the Earth; I delayed its destruction, just because Goku asked me too._

Seeing the light change he started walking across the street only to suddenly be cut off by a large black car stopping in front of him.

“Hey!” shouted the monk.

A man wearing dark glasses and a very expensive suit stepped out of the driver’s seat and quickly locked eyes and walked towards the monk.

“Are you Krillin?”

“What? Who are you?”

“Doesn’t matter, is your name Krillin?”

“…it is.”

“Good, get in the car.” The man said opening up the back car door.

“What? Why?”

“I’ll explain on the way.”

“You’ll explain now or I’m not going anywhere.”

The man’s face squeezed in frustration, “Fine, as I’m sure you know five days ago East City was wiped out along with every man, woman, and child who lived there. Reports are all over the place on how this happened from bombs to gas leaks, have you seen the news?”

“…no, not lately.”

“Well among all those guesses and theories one reporter and his crew swear that aliens were the cause. Aliens who had the ability to fly wielded incredible strength, and could vaporize mountains with balls of light, and to back that claim up they have video proof.”

Krillin’s eyes went wide as he began to understand the situation.

“In that video, there is footage of you at ground zero fighting these aliens. I’m here to take you to someone who would very much like to know more about this.”

“S…someone? Who?”

“The King.”


	2. Preparations

_What am I doing?_

It was the fourth time Krillin had asked himself that question during the long drive to the King’s Castle.

_I should have just left, they may know who I am but they’d never be able to catch me. I might be doing more harm than good by doing this. Then again if I didn’t, would I be on the run? Would I have to move out of Master Roshi’s place? How much do they actually know about me? How much do they know about all of us?....do they know about the dragonballs too?_

Krillin sighed.

_What am I doing?_

“We’re here.”

Krillin paused his train of thought to look out of the car window only to be greeted by the tallest building he had ever seen. A tower of blue and white jetted upward toward the sky with a perfect green lawn surrounding it and a small fountain just in front of it. In a perfect circle, seven other towers surrounded the castle though none of them as tall as the castle they stood just as refined.

“Wow,” Krillin said his awe getting the better of him.

“It is a sight.” The man in the suit said before pulling up to the entrance of the castle.

After parking the car the man wasted no time getting out and opening the door for Krillin who stepped out of the car his gaze still locked on the castle.

_It’s a lot bigger than home, to say the least._

“Come with me.”

Krillin obeyed the man’s instructions quickly following him into the castle. The two men walked through a giant hallway into a lobby with enough space to fit the entire Kame House inside of it. Slowing down the monk had to pause to take in the scenery of the view.

“Mr. Krillin, don’t fall behind.”

“Oh, sorry,” Krillin said catching up to the man in the suit as he waited by an elevator.

The monk and the man waited until an elevator opened its doors in front of them. Extending his arm forward the man allowed Krillin to enter first before joining him. Pressing the button for the top floor the elevator started to make its way upward.

“So uh.” Krillin stammered, “How much do you know?”

“About the East City incident? I was told that thousands of people in East City were killed in an instant with no reason or explanation given. The only thing that remained were two spheres one of which jetted off into an unknown direction. The other one was retrieved and set out to the lab for study.”

_Spheres?...The spaceships! They must have taken Nappa’s!_

 “Then I was told enough to identify you and the reason I needed to bring you here,” The man in the suit continued, “So to answer your question, more than most”

“Oh.”

“The higher-ups have a clearer picture than I do, but you’ll be speaking directly to the King.”

“What?”

“We’re here.”

The man and Krillin stepped into a grand room with a large amount of space in it. Bookcases lined the walls while an impressive looking desk was placed in the back. Behind it, there was a balcony blocked by a series of glass doors, in the center lay a small table with two couches surrounding it. These couches and most of the room was a room packed with a crowd of people all looking downcast and solemn. As soon as the group of people turned their gaze to see the monk and the man, they stiffened only for one of them to instantly point at Krillin and start to shake.

“It…it’s him!”

The group of people took a noticeable step backward and those that were sitting almost jumped to their feet. Confused at the reaction of the room Krillin stayed still unsure what his next move should be.

“Ladies and gentlemen, leave us.” A voice of power washed over the room calming the group.

Krillin saw that it coming from a dog who was currently looking out of the glass doors with his back facing the monk.

“But…but sir!”

“I’ll be fine, now leave us.”

The group followed the order but some still looked at Krillin with suspicion, they left through a side door which closed promptly behind them.

_What was that about?_

“Your majesty, I have brought him.” The man in the suit said with a bow.

“Thank you, you are dismissed.”

“Sir.” Without another word the man left through the same side door the group of people had exited, leaving just Krillin and the dog in the room together.

“You must be Krillin. It is a pleasure to meet you.” The powerful voice Krillin almost echoed through the room as the dog turned to reveal his short stature and old age. Despite that the blue fur of the dog seemed to almost radiate power but not with the strength Krillin was familiar with. His glasses almost betrayed the depth of his eyes looking far into Krillin deeper than just was on the surface.

_He reminds me of Master Roshi or Kami._

“Oh, my word I didn’t know you were injured.” The dog said looking at Krillin’s arm.

“It’s alright your majesty don’t worry about it, thank you for having me.”

“No need to be so formal my boy, please call me King.”

“Oh, okay King.”

“Take a seat won’t you, would you like something to drink? Water? Tea? Coffee? Whiskey?”

“Whiskey?” Krillin asked sitting down on one of two couches.

“Whiskey it is! Good man, I can tell you take yours neat!”

Before the monk could reject the offer he was handed a glass almost half filled with a shiny gold liquid.

_Should have asked for tea. Or at least some ice._

“Drink up my boy, whiskey calms the nerves helps put some hair on your chest, or in your case on your head!” King said laughing at his own joke while he poured himself an even taller glass of the gold liquor.

“Heh, thank you, sir.”

“I told you to call me King my boy!” The dog barked before sitting on a couch facing opposite to Krillin. “Now then, to good health!” King raised his glass expectantly.

“Oh, good health,” Krillin answered before clinking his glass against King’s.

The dog smiled before downing his drink in a single swig. “Ah, that’s the good stuff!”

Krillin smiled back and took a sip of his own drink, before releasing how strong the whiskey really was. The monk doubled over coughing, the potent drink catching him completely off guard.

“HA! A little too much for you my boy? You’ll have to be careful this stuff is older than me!” King laughed.

_Well, he’s definitely more like Master Roshi now._ Krillin thought trying to regain his composure.

“Alright, now let’s get to business.” King said slapping his knee, “I’m sure you have as many questions for me as I do for you. So how about this, we’ll swap questions and answers sound fair?”

“Ah, sure.”

“Splendid, by all means, why don’t you start?”

Krillin blinked while trying to get his head on straight still a little overwhelmed. “Uh, I guess I want to know, how did you find me?”

“A fair question and one I am happy to answer.”

Reaching down onto the table separating the two and picked up a remote, pressing a button turned on a TV that Krillin hadn’t noticed before to a paused section of a video. From what Krillin could see the video was being shot from a helicopter.

“Though I have to say you sure didn’t make it easy for us.” with that said King pressed play and the video came to life,

“Come on Mike get me closer! I need a better shot of the aliens!”

Krillin recognized the voice of Barry Walters and as the video rolled on he knew exactly what was going to happen next. The video had filmed both Vegeta and Nappa standing on the ground just minutes after they had landed on Earth. Even from the helicopter, Krillin could see the sneer on Nappa’s face and the grin on Vegeta’s but despite the horror, the two saiyans represented it wasn’t enough to make the reporters leave, that came later.

“Hey, what’s he doing?” Barry Walters had asked focusing on Nappa as he gathered his energy into the palm of his hand.

Wearing a giant grin the giant saiyan threw the energy at the helicopter. The whirlybird started to shake just from the force of the energy and Krillin could hear the pilot, the cameraman, and Barry Walters scream for their lives. Then, just as it had happened five days ago the monk was able to place himself in between the sphere of dense energy and the innocents. Shifting his ki so that it encased only his right arm Krillin swung his fist at the blast and batted the ball away from the news crews. With a new direction, the sphere flew away from the monk soaring into a nearby mountain where it detonated and immediately vaporized the giant chunk of rock. For a moment all was still. The only sounds were the sizzle from Krillin’s right arm and the turn of the helicopter's blades. The camera was now shaking uncontrollably the cameraman barely able to hold it together. Due to the violent shaking, a lot of the audio was hard to hear and it wasn’t until the monk turned toward the reporters did the sound kick back in.

 “If you want to live you need to go now. Tell everyone you can to avoid this area. Understood?”

After the monk had finished speaking King paused the video on a close up of Krillin’s face.

“This video is pretty much the only thing we had regarding your identity. It took my people three full days to track down your name and even then we still had no idea who you really were.” King said slowly.

_Living on an island will do that._

“Regardless it was only by chance we saw your name pop up among the patients at West City Hospital, after that, I sent one of my best to search for you and here you are.” The dog said before pointing to the paused video, “That’s you, isn’t it?”

Krillin paused unsure of how to respond but after realizing that he had no way out of the situation he sighed heavily before speaking,

“Yes, it is.”

King looked into the monk’s eyes for a long time before getting up from the coach walking over to the bar and pouring himself another glass of whiskey.

“It’s your turn for a question.” The dog said his back facing the monk.

“What do you plan to do with this video?”

“That is entirely up to you,” King said walking back to the couch with a full glass of whiskey.

“What do you mean?”

“Whoops, sorry my boy it’s my turn now,” King said before chugging his glass of whiskey in one go.

Once he was done the dog put the glass down on the table before redirecting his focus onto Krillin.

“A number of months ago I learned of a report of a flying man who rescued a young girl from being run over by the criminal Launch. I dismissed it at first but after the video, I must ask, was that you as well?”

“…yes. Is she still wanted by the police?”

“She is, why did you take her?”

“Believe it or not she’s an old friend but what she was doing was wrong so I stopped her. Is there any way she can be let go?”

“Hmmm, well you did return the money and thankfully no one was hurt during the chase. I suppose I could if she agrees to a week of community service.”

“Thank you.”

King nodded happily but his tone grew serious only a moment later. “Before we go any further please answer me this. Are you a threat to the world and its people?”

Krillin was about to laugh at the question and even wondered if the whiskey had affected the dog, but before he did Krillin noticed a quiver in King’s hands as he waited for the monk’s answer. The dog held fast but the more Krillin looked at him the more he realized that the strength he had sensed before had faded just a little.

_He’s scared of me. They all are._

“No sir, I am not.”

“Are you an alien?”

“No sir, I am not.”

“Are…are you human?”

Krillin paused before looking at his glass of liquor,

_Funny question._ “Yes sir, I am.” 

King studied the monk for a moment before relaxing into a warm smile.

“Of course you are, forgive me, my boy, not only did I break the rule of our game I also asked you a question I already knew the answer to.”

“You did?”

“You’re no threat to us, on the contrary, it seems we owe you more than we could ever repay. Saving the lives of those reporters certainly put you in a good light but I wasn’t truly convinced until I saw the second video Mr. Walters and his crew had recorded.”

“The second video?”

“The one where you approached them first.”

_What is he- Oh! During the three hour break. I didn’t think they were recording that._

 “It doesn’t have as much impact as the first one no mountains were harmed after all,” King continued, “But you said something to Mr. Walters, something great enough to turn him away from what is possibly the story of the century. Do you remember what it was?”

“I couldn’t save East City, let me save you,” Krillin said slowly.

“That’s it; I knew then even though I couldn’t understand how you did what you did you were doing it for us, for the world.”

_No, I was doing it for Gohan._ “So, what happens now?” Krillin asked.

“What would you like to happen? If this story got out you could be a hero.”

“Sorry, I’m pretty far from being a hero.”

“Not from my perspective, in that video I saw a young man who was able to do the impossible to save many, many lives, including some of our best and brightest.”

“The reporters?” Krillin asked a little confused.

Krillin’s question made King pause before breaking into a soft smile.

“Not just them my boy, after the attack on East City I ordered our military to locate and destroy the East City threats. Over 35 battleships and 27 jets were mobilized and set to attack and defeat the invaders.

Krillin sat up in surprise. “I had no idea.”

“Of course not, what I’m telling you is top secret I hope you understand that this conversation should be kept between the two of us. I’m trusting you with a lot.”

“I understand.”

“Thank you, just before the assault I was given the recording you just saw. Luckily for us, Mr. Walters saw fit to send this video to us instead of to his employers, most likely seeking a greater reward. Due to his greed and lack of foresight we have determined that this is the only recording of your actions and the invader's presence.”

_Good, that’s one less thing to worry about._

 “Seeing that one of the aliens had the ability to destroy mountains with a ball of light convinced me to call for a retreat,” King continued. “There were too many unknowns to risk our bravest in a fight where we were clearly outgunned. However, there was another reason I stopped the attack.”

“What was that sir?”

“You reminded me of someone.”

“Who?”

Before he answered King stretched out his hand toward Krillin’s empty glass which the monk had been sipping from throughout the conversation. Handing over the glass Krillin watched the dog walk back over to the bar with his own empty glass and fill up both to the brim.

“You’re old enough to know about King Piccolo correct?”

_You have no idea._ “Yes, I am.”

King walked back and handed Krillin his drink before sitting down himself.

“Years ago he overthrew this kingdom and threatened the entire world not with an army but with just his own strength and the ability to destroy cities with beams of light, just like the East City invaders. At the time there was no one who could challenge him,” King said while taking a small sip of whiskey, “I lost some dear friends that day.”

“I’m sorry.”

 “Thank you, but that is in the past. After all King Piccolo was beaten in the end and as far as the public knows it was thanks to the military, but that is not what happened.”

Krillin said nothing but took a drink himself fully aware of where this conversation was going.

“What I’m going to tell you now goes beyond top secret. Very few know this and even now years later we still do not know what it means. You see King Piccolo was defeated by-”

“A boy with a tail,” Krillin said smoothly interrupting the dog.

King sputtered to a stop before looking at the monk with wide eyes.

_I’ve surprised him, good let's use that._

“You…you know about the boy?!”

“I do.”

The dog’s shock was easy to see but the moment passed and before long King tried to compose himself.

“Who, who is he?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Krillin said sternly.

“You can’t?”

“I’m sorry but it’ll be better if you leave him alone, you don’t know the whole story.”

“…would you like to tell me?”

 “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“I see, well it’s your business after all, and as I said I don’t see you as a threat. Though I can’t deny I am immensely curious, but demanding information from the man who saved us paints an ugly picture wouldn’t you say?”

Krillin paused unsure of what to do next.

_He’s not accusing me of anything and as far as I can tell he seems genuine. Plus he doesn’t appear to know about the others or even the dragonballs…I won’t tell him everything, but if show him something then maybe I can get something I want._

Putting down his glass and holding up his left hand out in front of him Krillin summoned a bit of energy just enough to form a small ball of ki in his palm. As soon as he had King’s dropped his glass of whiskey in his hand in shock.

“That…light! It’s just like in the video!”

“This is ki,” Krillin said, “It’s sort of like an energy that can be used to move fast, punch harder, fly, and as you’ve seen can blow up mountains.”

“How…how are you doing that?”

“Anyone can.”

“What?”

“Ki is something that exists in every person you just need to know how to access it.”

“How?”

“Years of training in martial arts.”

“Martial arts? You’re saying that your abilities all come from martial arts?”

“Yes, I’m just as human as anyone else. I just trained a lot.”

“That’s…hard to believe.”

“Well, you’ll have to, since it’s the truth.”

King said nothing his mouth agape in amazement as Krillin vanished the ball of ki and took another sip of whiskey.

“I can’t tell you everything sir it’s not my place to, but there is something I need to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I killed one of the aliens but the other one…escaped.”

“WHAT?” King shouted standing up out of his seat. “Is there a chance he’ll return?!”

“There is.”

King put a hand to his head as if to stabilize himself before sitting back down.

“This…this is a nightmare.”

“…I’m sorry,” Krillin said with his head hanging low.

“No don’t apologize, I’m sure you did all you could.”

Krillin flinched, “…the only reason I’m telling you this is that if he does return you need to stay out of it.”

“What?”

“I think you understand that going up against these aliens is suicide. If he does return do not engage him.”

“So what are we supposed to do? Just wait for him to kill us?”

“No, leave it to people who can fight him.”

“People? There are more like you and the boy?”

“…as I said, I can’t tell you everything.”

King stared at the monk for a moment before reaching for his glass of whiskey only to remember he had dropped it, he fidgeted with his hands before sighing, “I understand.”

“Thank you.”

“Is there anything we can do for you? You’ve done so much for us.”

_Good, the gamble paid off._

“Yes, there is, please don’t show either video to the public I actually would like you to destroy it completely.”

“Are you sure?”

Krillin nodded.

“Very well, is there anything else?”

“Keep my name and everything else I’ve told you to yourself, the fewer people who know who I am and what I can do the better.”

“What should I tell the world? Every reporter in every city is demanding an answer.”

“You may have to admit to the alien attack. That’s eventually going to leak out regardless and you can even say that they were defeated by the military.”

“I doubt the people will believe that.”

“Fine, then someone strong or something, just keep both my name and the fact that one of the aliens escaped secret, to avoid a panic.”

“Yes, yes you’re right.”

“And there’s one more thing. I want you to rebuild East City.”

King blinked in surprise, “That, won’t be an easy task. The blast destroyed everything it may take some time before we gather the needed materials.”

“I understand, but if everything goes well you’re going to need that city up and running within the next two months.”

“Two months!”

“I know it’s a lot to ask but you have to believe me, it’s for the best.”

For a full minute, King said nothing, deciding to instead look deeper at Krillin in an attempt to understand the strange request. “Alright, I will do everything I can.”

“Thank you,” Krillin said before putting down his glass and standing up, “In exchange, if the alien does return I’ll be in contact to warn you.”

“Contact? How?”

“I’ll get in touch with you,” Krillin said as he walked toward the door leading to the balcony and opened it with his left hand. “Just don’t use my name when you’re sharing the information I give you.”

“Well, what do we call you?”

Krillin paused and thought about it before smiling to himself.

“Call me, Mr. Baldy.”

Before King could respond Krillin jumped into the air and flew off without another word.

* * *

 “Are you out of your mind?!”

Krillin flinched at Bulma’s screech and even had to dodge a book thrown at him. The blue-haired genius was busy working on the namekian ship in the laboratory. She was working on the ship from the inside with the platform down and Krillin could see her moving around trying to get everything up and running. Despite that, she still somehow found the time to yell at the poor monk. Krillin had gone to Capsule Corp to explain what had happened with King; now he had wished he hadn’t.

“Why would you tell them all of that? You could have lied!”

“I didn’t have a choice Bulma they already knew my name and had a video with me on it.”

“You could have just left! You can fly can’t you?”

“And have to worry about being questioned every time I go out for groceries? No thank you.”

“Well, you didn’t have to go blabbing about everything to the King of all people!”

“I didn’t blab about everything, they have no idea about the dragonballs. The King saw Goku when he was just a kid but doesn’t even know his name. They have no idea about you, Gohan, or even Piccolo, just me and Launch. So once she does the community service she’s free and I had to tell them about Vegeta so they don't kill themselves trying to take him down. We can’t wish them back without Kami. Plus this way if Vegeta does come back we can warn them and no one will get in the way while him and Goku fight.”

“Fine, whatever, you can’t take it back anyway.” Bulma said clearly annoyed, “But why did you ask for them to rebuild East City?”

“Well if I didn’t and we do wish everyone back that’s a whole lot of people without any homes.”

“Well that’s nice of you but how are you going to explain a city full of dead people coming back to life all of a sudden?”

“…..I haven’t thought that far.”

“Of course not, I swear you guys are all muscle and no brain.”

Krillin rolled his eyes. “How is it going here anyway?”

“Good, we’re on schedule, should be done by tomorrow.”

“Wow, that was fast.”

“Surprised me too, but she was already good for space travel and Mr. Popo has been really helpful in translating the language. So once that was done it was just about making it comfortable for the two-month trip.”

“Hard to believe it’s almost time to go.”

“Believe it, so any other bombs you need to tell me?”

“Actually, Chichi is really against Gohan coming with us.”

“Didn’t we figure that would be a problem anyway?”

“We did, so there’s that, and I saw Tien today.”

“Yeah I called you as soon as the hospital let me know he was up, I would have gone but I was stuck here. How’s he doing?”

“Well, he wants to go to Namek too.”

“What?”

This time Krillin had to dodge a wrench.

“Why are you telling all of this to me now! I don’t have time for this! It’s going to take forever to redesign this thing for four people! Do you know what time it is? I was going to go to bed soon!”

_And here I was wondering why she and Yamcha broke up._

“I’m sorry, He learned about how I let Vegeta go and, he didn’t take it well.”

Bulma was going to yell at him again but saw that the monk already felt bad enough and just sighed instead. “Fine, whatever, looks like the ship will be ready in three days instead of one, but is he sure? I mean he’s probably in worse shape than you.”

“I don’t think any of us could convince him not to come. He’s pretty angry at me.”

Bulma didn’t say anything but jumped down from inside the ship. “Listen I get it, when you told us you let Vegeta go I was a bit angry at you too.”

“You were?”

“Well, why wouldn’t I be? The guy blew up a city! But the more I thought about it the more I realized it’s not my place to judge. I mean, I wasn’t there and beyond what you and Goku told us I don’t really know what happened.”

Krillin didn’t respond.

“So if you think what you did is right then I’ll support you.”

“But what if I made the wrong decision?” Krillin asked clenching his left hand. “What if Vegeta comes back and just kills everyone and it’s my fault?”

“Well, that would be less than ideal, but have you ever considered that you made the right decision?”

“What?”

“I mean sure you let him go but really only because you listened to Goku, and Goku let Piccolo go after the Tenkaichi Budokai right? We all thought Goku was crazy then but didn’t Piccolo end up helping you in this fight? Maybe Goku saw something like that in Vegeta. If we can bring everyone back to life and we can convince Vegeta not to kill anymore then that’s a net gain. Maybe he’ll even help us the next time a super strong crazy guy tries to destroy the planet.”

“…Bulma, I highly doubt that would ever happen.”

“Fine, call me crazy but I bet I’m right.”

Bulma walked past Krillin and bent down to pick up the wrench and book she threw at him before walking back to the ship. “Regardless I don’t think you should doubt yourself so much, you’re smarter than you think.”

“Really? What makes you say that?”

“Yamcha told me,” Bulma said as she threw both the book and the wrench back into the ship.

“Oh?” Krillin said a little surprised at how easily Bulma could say his name. “When did he do that?”

“While we were breaking up.”

“How did my name get into that conversation?”

“It was afterward you weirdo, once he stopped crying. We talked a lot about what you guys were doing. How you were coming up with plans, training, even working with Piccolo. He really respected you.”

“…yeah,” Krillin said slowly.

Bulma noticed the tone and rolled her eyes before smacking the monk upside the head.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Because you keep doing that!”

“Doing what?”

“Doubting yourself! Yeah you made a mistake, or maybe you didn’t, we don’t even know yet. But either way, you can’t keep doing this.”

“I thought you said you couldn’t judge me because you didn’t see what happened?”

“I also told you what Yamcha told me and the Krillin he told me about sounded a lot stronger than the Krillin that’s here now.”

“Yeah…but.”

“No buts!” Bulma said before hitting Krillin again.

“What about Tien?”

“What about Tien? He’s mad at you and I think he’s got a right to be but you’re fixing it aren’t you? You came up with the plan to get everyone back and you’re the one who’s going to Namek. No matter what he said about you, show him he’s wrong.”

“Bu-” Krillin started before he saw Bulma raise her hand again. “Vegeta’s still out there because of me.”

“Sure, but you were strong enough to beat him the first time and personally I think you’re the only one who doesn’t believe you can do it again.”

Krillin could only blink in response before a smile ran across his face.

“Thanks, Bulma.”

“Anytime, but if you really wanted to thank me you shouldn’t have shown up with news that added 72 hours to my schedule. Or do you have anything else I should know?”

“Actually yeah, I learned that Nappa’s spaceship was picked up by the King’s men.”

“Really? Huh, that’s good to know.

“You think it could help with this ship?”

“Maybe, is that it?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“Good, now get out of here, it’s going to be an all-nighter for me,” Bulma said as she jumped back up into the ship.

Krillin smiled again and turned to leave.

“Oh Krillin wait, I almost forgot.”

“Yeah?”

“Mr. Popo told me that Korin wanted to see you.”

 “Korin? Why?”

“Don’t know, didn’t ask.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Shut up I don’t owe you anything.”

“Oh sure, I’m just the guy who saved the planet you live on.”

“Weren’t you leaving?”

* * *

_There it is._

Krillin had been flying for almost half an hour trying to find Korin’s tower which had gotten much harder due to the sun having set hours ago.

_He’s probably asleep but can’t hurt just to check._

Landing onto the tower Krillin started to look around for the cat only to find him standing in the center of the tower.

“You came.” The cat said slowly.

“Yeah, sorry, but didn’t expect you to be up. It’s pretty late.”

“Haven’t been sleeping well, too quiet,” Korin said before turning away

“Too quiet?”

“I’ve gotten used to horrendously loud snoring throughout the years but, it’s just me here now, so. It’s too quiet.”

“Oh, I see.”

Korin nodded.

“So why did you call me here?”

“I wanted to ask you something,” Korin said as he walked to the side of the tower and picked up a tea kettle with a single cup.

“You wanted me to drink tea?” Krillin asked.

“In a sense,” Korin answered pouring the cup full of a strange black liquid.

“That doesn’t look like tea.”

“Truth be told its closer to water than tea.”

“Well, it doesn’t look like water either.”

“You’re right it’s called the Ultra Divine Water and it helped Goku defeat King Piccolo,” Korin said before handing the cup to Krillin.

“What?”

“This water is capable of revealing the secret power hidden deep within yourself. It’s a boost in power that was great enough to help Goku beat Piccolo when he was a child.”

“I had no idea, why are you giving this to me now?”

“Because the water will help you reach the limits of your strength and I believe you are far from your limit.”

“I see,” Krillin said staring at the cup, “This is in case Vegeta comes back or if something happens on Namek.”

Korin nodded.

“What’s the downside?”

“You catch on quick,” the cat said slowly, “The water is also a poison if you’re not strong enough physically or mentally, it’ll kill you.”

“…oh.”

“In the past, there were fourteen martial artists who drank the water before Goku, they all perished.”

 “I think I’m stronger now than Goku was when he overcame the poison.”

“Perhaps, but I’m not sure Goku fought the poison off because he was strong or if he was a saiyan.”

“What do you mean?”

“Those fourteen warriors who died were all human Goku is the only one to have survived, it could be because of his strength or because he’s-”

“Not human.”

“Precisely,” The cat said with a nod, “I asked you to come here so I could be honest with you, I think letting Vegeta live was a mistake.”

“You’re not the only one,” Krillin said with a small laugh. “Tien said the same thing.”

“He’s awake?

“I talked to him earlier today. When he learned about Vegeta he was really angry said he wanted to go to Namek too.”

“I can imagine, regardless I wanted to do more to help.” The cat said slowly, “This water can make you stronger if you survive and we may need that strength, but it is your choice. I won’t force you either way.”

Krillin said nothing but took another long look at the dark liquid in the teacup.

_Risking my life for more strength, a week ago this would have been an easy decision, but now…_

**“I will not have a friend destroy himself for a possibility.”**

Kami’s words rebounded through his head and the monk found himself slowly lowering the cup back down toward the cat until he realized he had returned the cup.

“You’re refusing it?”

“…yeah.  You’re right I do need more strength so maybe I’ll come back to this, but if I were to die here right now. I’d have too many regrets. We leave for Namek in three days and I need to be there to help bring everyone back.”

“I understand,” Korin said as he opened up the tea kettle to bring the black liquid back in. “What will you do in that time?”

“I guess I’ll be focusing on healing my arm, don’t know what we’ll find on Namek but I’m sure I’ll need both hands.”

“I agree if I don’t see you before you leave good luck.”

“You won’t be there?”

“No, I should concentrate on raising the senzu beans for Goku.”

“Alright, then I guess I’ll say goodbye for now,” Krillin said offering his hand to the cat.

“Goodbye Krillin and good luck,” Korin said shaking the offered hand.

The monk smiled before taking off back into the sky, heading for home with sleep on his mind.


	3. Day of Departure

“Damn.”

It was only thing Krillin could say as he stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. He had removed the bandages on his arm to get a better look at the wound only to see that there was still a bright pink line running from his armpit to his back. The doctors were amazed when Krillin had shown up at the hospital yesterday ready to have his stitches removed but that didn’t mean he was any better.

_Flowing my energy into it helped speed up the process but…_ Krillin thought to himself as he looked at his arm as a whole. _It still isn’t enough._

The monk tried to lift his right arm up and even attempted to make a fist only for both endeavors to fail. His limb shook in response to his commands but beyond that, it could do no more. With a heavy sigh, the monk began to rebandage his arm and prepare his sling.

_I’ll have another month to heal on the way to Namek but if I’m not better by then…_

“Krillin! Are you ready?” Master Roshi shouted from downstairs.

“Yeah, just give me a minute!”

“Well hurry up, Bulma’s here with the ship!”

It had been three days since Krillin’s talk with King, Bulma, and Korin and in that time the monk had devoted every hour healing, training in his mind, and packing for this very day. Two days ago King had made an announcement to the world regarding the East City incident. Reluctantly he was forced to admit the existence of dangerous aliens which had sent the world into a state of shock. To counter that King went on to share that the world had been saved by a nameless hero. Someone with great strength and a greater heart someone even he did not know the true identity of. So the search was on for this hero yet with no name or description given the world had to rely on speculation as the news dragged on with baseless guesses and theories.

_It’s probably a good thing that I’m leaving now just to avoid making anymore commotion. Still, no sign about Vegeta so that’s a relief as well, not sure if he’ll stay away for the entire trip but at least we’re doing everything we can._

Placing his arm back in his sling Krillin looked at his reflection in the mirror before nodding to himself. “Time to go.”

Leaving the bathroom behind Krillin popped into his room and grabbed his pre-packed bag before heading downstairs and out the door.

“You’re late,” Bulma said before the monk could even greet her.

The blue-haired genius stood next to the namekian ship which towered over her. The ship itself looked a lot cleaner compared to the last time Krillin had seen it and having it match the size of the Kame House showed how large the craft really was.

“Nice to see you too,” Krillin replied dropping his bag on the Kame House steps while looking over the spaceship, “You really put a lot of work into this huh?”

“Of course I did, it’s going to be our home for the next two months. I’ve put in chairs, beds, a bathroom and a kitchen for all four of us. I’ve got enough food and water in there for ten people just in case Gohan takes after his dad. Plus with my dad’s and Mr. Popo’s help we redesigned this ship so well it can basically fly itself!” Bulma said with a hint of pride.

“Wow, wait Gohan is actually coming?” Krillin asked.

“Yeah, I talked to Goku about it two days ago. Ever since he learned about the trip and bringing Piccolo back he’s determined to go. I heard that he and Chichi got into a shouting match over it too.”

“Oh…maybe some distance will help,” Krillin said already a little disheartened.

 “Maybe, though if he doesn’t make it here then I’ll have made the ship bigger for nothing.”

“You made it bigger?” Krillin asked looking over the ship once more.

“Well, I had to if there’s going to be four of us. It’s a good thing I did too if it was tiny as the saiyan ships only one of us could go. Though I guess we would get there faster.”

“Faster?” Krillin asked,

“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I pulled some strings and got my hands on Nappa’s spaceship that you mentioned. Dad cracked it open and looked inside, turns out that ship is even more sophisticated than this one. We ran the numbers and the saiyan ship could make the same trip to Namek in six days.”

“Woah, that’s way faster! You couldn’t put the saiyan ship parts into this ship?”

“No they aren’t compatible, we could have tried to force it but it would take longer and we’re already short on time.”

“That makes sense.”

“Although, I was talking with dad and if he keeps working on it he could take the saiyan ship apart and make a second ship for Goku. That way if things go badly on Namek Goku could join us in under a week.”

“Really? That’s great!” Krillin said before he started thinking, “Wait, but we’re going to be so deep into space how would we let Goku know if he should come or stay? If Vegeta returns Goku should stay here.”

“You underestimate me,” Bulma said with a smirk.

“Alright Bulma I got your radio thing set up,” Master Roshi said walking out of the door to the Kame House.

“Perfect. Just remember to test it once we break out of the atmosphere.”

“Radio?” Krillin asked,

“It’s something I’ve been tinkering with for a while and this is the perfect time to use it. It’s a two-way radio that can be used no matter how far apart they are. With this, we’ll still be able to be in contact with Earth.”

“Wow Bulma, you really thought of everything.”

“Of course I did, no one else was going too.”

“Still think you should have put a TV in there,” Master Roshi said while looking over the ship.  “You’ll be awfully bored.”

“I told you there wasn’t enough time. Are you offering yours old man?” Bulma asked with a sneer.

“And miss my aerobic babes? No way!”

“Ugh, perv.” 

Krillin stifled a laugh as he watched the two interact but stopped when he noticed a hover car flying towards them.

“Is that Chichi and Gohan?” the monk asked squinting his eyes for a better look.

He got his answer quickly as he spied blond hair flowing through the air as the aircraft sped faster than the speed limit toward the small island.

_Launch? What’s she doing here?_

 The air car landed and the blond-haired girl smoothly jumped out the vehicle. She eyed the namekian ship before scanning the island.

“Damn, not here either,” Launch said kicking the hover car.

“You haven’t found him yet?” Bulma asked.

“No, I checked everywhere but the idiot vanished into thin air.”

“Vanished? Who?” asked Krillin.

 Bulma and Launch nervously looked at each other for a moment before the blue-haired genius sighed loudly.

“Two days ago, Tien disappeared from the hospital. No one has heard from him since then and we still haven’t found him.”

“What?!” Krillin shouted, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You two aren’t exactly on the friendliest terms right now,” said Launch, “Besides if he’s serious about going to Namek he’ll be here.”

“…if he does come, then maybe Gohan could stay here,” Krillin said with some hope.

“Maybe,” Bulma said slowly, “By the way Launch how goes the community service?”

“Shut up!”

“That bad?” asked Krillin.

“I said shut up!”

“You’re almost done and I’m sure you’ll be happy to leave this dinky island behind.”

“My island is not dinky!” Master Roshi shouted back.

Krillin smiled before noticing something in the distance, “Oh look that must be Gohan and Chichi now.”

A second hover car was speeding toward the island but with much more control than Launch’s arrival. It wasn’t long before Krillin could see the silhouette of the Ox King, Chichi, and Gohan in the distance.

“Hello!” the Ox king bellowed the car landed on the beach, “So this is the spaceship, huh? It’s really something else, ain’t it?”

“Hi Ox king,” said Krillin.

“Krillin!” The giant man went to go and give the monk a hug only to notice the arm in the sling and force himself to stop, “Oh, sorry.”

“It’s okay, how have you been?”

Ox king tried a smile but unfortunately, his face betrayed him, the monk could see that his question didn’t have an easy answer.

“Oh, you know me, same old stuff.” The giant man said with the best laugh he could force out.

“Glad to hear it,” Krillin said before he caught sight of Chichi stepping out of the car with a large bag.

“Chichi do you need any help?”

“No.”

The refusal had come from behind Krillin and had been loud enough to make the monk turn and see Gohan, glaring at him. Since the last time he had seen the half-saiyan Gohan was given a haircut. His wild and unruly hair had been cut and shaped into a simple bowl cut, it did not suit him in the least.

“She doesn’t need your help.” Gohan continued walking up to his mother and taking the large bag before making his way toward the spaceship.

 “Don’t mind him Krillin,” Chichi said pulling out another bag from the car. “He’s stubborn like his father.”

“Looks like it, I can’t say I blame him,” Krillin said watching the half-saiyan stand on the lowered platform with Bulma before rising up into the ship. “How are you holding up Chichi?”

The ox princess hesitated as she put the bag she was carrying down into the sand.

“I’m scared, I’m scared out of my mind. But I can’t stop him from going. He’s not listening to me anymore,” Chichi said while lifting out another bag. “There’s nothing I can do.”

“That’s why I’m here.” Krillin said before bending over to carry the unattended bag, “I’ll be sure to-”

The monk paused as he realized that the bag planned to carry was much heavier than he believed it would be.

 “What is in this bag, rocks?”

“Books, just because Gohan is going to space doesn’t mean he should slack off in his studies.”

“You sure you got enough?” Krillin said finally lifting the bag up with a bit of a struggle.

“Is there time to get more?”

The monk laughed while walking to the ship just in time for the platform to lower with Bulma and Gohan on board.

“Is that everything?” Bulma asked taking the bag from Krillin.

“I’ve got a bag on the porch but after that, I think we’re good.”

“Still no sign of Tien?”

“No, I would have sensed him by now if he were close.”

“Damn we’re already late, I wanted to be past Saturn 10 minutes ago.”

“Can’t you wait a little longer?” said Launch, “He’s probably on his way now.”

“I guess, well come on up you can at least look around the ship,” Bulma said making some room on the platform for Krillin and Chichi.

“Piccolo!” Bulma shouted causing the platform to rise back into the namekian spacecraft.

Immediately Krillin could see the hard work that had gone into making the spaceship livable. Like Bulma had said the ship was indeed bigger with enough room to fit four beds and a newly installed bathroom and kitchen. The floor was still purple and the walls were still white but it was clear that the spaceship was much more suited to support human life than before.

“Bulma this looks great!” Krillin said looking around in awe.

“Thanks, the fridge is fully stocked so we’re good on that front. There’s a shower a toilet and a sink in the bathroom with a washer and a dryer. Plus a clock set to Earth time so we can at least pretend to have a sleep schedule.”

“Is there a bookshelf?” Chichi asked already opening one of Gohan’s bags.

“No, there is no bookshelf.”

“Why not?”

“Gee I’m sorry I guess I forgot while I was busy installing a plumbing system into an alien spaceship,” Bulma said with a bit of bite.

“There is no need to use that kind of tone with me, I was just asking.” Chichi responded with some force, “It’s not my fault you forgot to set up a bookshelf for Gohan.”

“I didn’t forget, we don’t need a bookshelf in space there’s no point.”

“No point? Then where is Gohan going to put all of his books?”

“How about nowhere? He’s five what good is a textbook going to do him now?”

“It’s called planning for the future and if you had done the same then maybe you would have set up a bookshelf and we wouldn’t need to have this conversation.”

“What are you implying?”

“Nothing,” Chichi answered with a light tone, “But maybe you aren’t as smart as you think you are.”

“Oh, that is-” Bulma started before being cut off by Krillin.

“So Bulma! The monk shouted getting in between the two women, “You said the trip will be about two months right?”

Bulma looked at Krillin for a moment completely aware of what he was trying to do before letting go of her anger and answering the question.

“It’ll be around 33-34 days just to get to Namek so yeah about two months to get back home. Hopefully the dragonballs there will still show up on the dragon radar and the locals are alright with us using them but who knows how long that will take.”

Listening to the conversation had Chichi grow quiet as she continued taking the Gohan’s books out of his bag.

_Great, I think I made things worse instead._ Krillin thought to himself as he set Gohan’s other bag down. “Gohan I’m putting your other bag over here.”

Despite using his name and trying to make eye contact the young half-saiyan completely ignored Krillin offering no sign that he had even heard the monk.

“Gohan! Krillin is doing you a favor the least you can do is be nice and answer him.” Chichi said with a snap.

Again Gohan refused to answer instead opting to use the bathroom at that particular moment.

“Gohan!” Chichi called again her anger getting the better of her.

“Chichi it’s alright, don’t worry about it,” Krillin said trying to calm her down.

“It’s not alright he’s being disrespectful.”

“No really it’s fine, it’s-”

Krillin stopped midway through his sentence as his senses got the better of him and he turned to look outside the window. “Oh, there he is.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Bulma.

“Tien’s coming.”

“Finally!”

Krillin made his way over to the platform shouting Piccolo causing it lower. Before the platform had even hit the beach underneath Krillin had jumped out of the ship looked at the sky in the direction Tien was coming from.

“Krillin? Is everything okay?” Master Roshi asked a little concerned at how frantic the monk was behaving.

“Yeah, Tien’s almost here.”

“You going to be okay?”

“I’ll be fine he’s angry but he’s still Tien right?”

“Tien’s here?” Launch asked walking up toward the old man and the monk.

“Yeah.”

The blond haired girl grew quiet as she searched the sky for the three-eyed human.

“Have you talked to him at all since last time?”

“No,” Launch said quickly, “The last time I tried he had already vanished.”

 “Oh.”

“There he is.” Master Roshi said while pointing to a dot in the sky that was steadily getting bigger.

The dot in the sky took the shape of a person as it crashed into the beach scattering sand and water as it landed. As the dust settled it only took Krillin a second to recognize Tien standing tall with a bag in his left hand, but what was most surprising of all was the injuries Tien seemed to have sustained during the battle with the saiyans, had completely healed. The right side of his body that had been fully bandaged covering his lost limb seemed to have healed over as if months had passed instead of days. Despite the loss of his right hand, the three-eyed warrior seemed completely undeterred.

“Tien?” Krillin asked unsure if he could believe his eyes.

“So that’s the namekian ship huh?” Tien said ignoring the monk completely “Looks good, when do we leave?”

The monk didn’t answer as he looked over the three-eyed warrior is disbelief. He had expected to find Tien in even worse shape than the last time he had seen him due to leaving the hospital early. “Tien, what did you do?”

The question grabbed Tien’s attention so he rewarded Krillin with a glare.

“Doesn’t matter, when are we leaving?”

 “Why did you leave the hospital?” Krillin spat.

“I left because staying there accomplished nothing. When are we leaving?”

“Tien!”

Tien turned toward Launch to see the blond girl stomping right up to him, “You jerk! I was worried about you! Don’t just leave without a word!”

“I don’t have a reason to tell you anything Launch, what I do isn’t your business.”

Launch recoiled, “It is my business if I care about you!”

“Then you should stop. I don’t need you. You’re better off robbing a bank.”

Launch flinched and went for a slap only for Tien to drop his bag and catch her wrist with his left hand. The two stayed still for a moment and the beach went silent.

“You should leave,” Tien said slowly, “There’s nothing for you here.”

The blond girl stiffened and whipped a left hook at Tien’s face which connected with a hard smack. Ripping her hand out of Tien’s Launch turned away before jumping in her car and driving off, without another word. The three-eyed warrior massaged his jaw and picked up his bag before making his way to the ship.

“You went too far,” Krillin said cutting Tien off.

“Maybe, but that shouldn’t be any concern of yours,” Tien said pushing forward past the monk.

_This is not going to be an easy trip_. Krillin thought as he watched his friend enter into the spaceship.

“I don’t remember Tien being so, hostile.” Ox king said stepping close to Krillin.

“He has been through a lot.”

“I can only imagine.”

“Yeah, it’s going to be a long trip.”

“Well I hope this helps a little,” Ox King said before descending upon Krillin with a giant bear hug. The monk was surprised for a second before he smiled and returned the hug the best he could.

“He’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it.” Krillin said slowly.

“Thank you.”

After being released and giving one final nod to the great bear of a man Krillin made his way back the Kame House’s porch looking for his bag, only to find that it had disappeared.

“Bulma have you see my bag?”

“No, why? Did you lose it? Krillin we don’t have time for this!”

“I swear it was right here a second ago!”

“Calm down, I’ve got it.” Master Roshi said walking out of the Kame House with Krillin’s bag in hand, “I was just making sure he had everything.”

 “After packing for three days I’m pretty sure I’m good.”

“Doesn’t hurt to check,” Master Roshi said with a smile while handing the bag over.

The monk gripped his luggage tightly and turned to leave before being stopped by the turtle hermit’s hand on his shoulder.

“Krillin.”

“Yeah?”

“…be safe.”

The plea caught the monk off guard for a moment before he responded with a smile.

“I will.”

Master Roshi returned the smile with one of his own before releasing his student and watching him walk toward the namekian ship.

 “Finally ready?” Bulma asked with the platform already lowered “Tien’s onboard and Chichi is finishing up so we are good to go.”

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

The blue-haired genius and the monk walked up onto the platform which started to rise after a quick shout from Bulma. With a click, Krillin stepped off and started to make himself comfortable.

“Pick a bed and get ready. I want us past Neptune in 15,” Bulma said already rushing to the controls. Looking around Krillin saw that Tien was already sprawled out on a bed eyes closed waiting for takeoff. Gohan was still taking out an assortment of books from a bag stacking them neatly in a corner close to his chosen bed.

The monk threw his bag on the bed closest to the window and stared out toward the ocean.

 “Gohan your toothbrush is next to your toothpaste and your pajamas are by your pillow,” Chichi called from the bathroom.

“Okay,” Gohan responded his focus remaining on his books.

“I’ve packed some notebooks as well in case you want to make write your own notes the pencils are in the green bag.”

“Okay.”

“Did you want your teddy bear laid out for you now or tomorrow?”

“Okay.”

“Gohan are you listening to me?”

“Okay.”

Chichi barged out of the bathroom her son in her sights ready to give him a stern talking to. Before she could she was stopped by Krillin who had seen what was happening from his bed.

“We’re going to be leaving now, maybe go a little easy on him.”

The ox princess paused but it was clear her anger started to fade.

“Gohan,” she called walking past the monk, “Come here.”

The half-saiyan stopped his staking and made his way to his mother unsure if he was going to be scolded or not. Instead, Chichi got down on one knee and hugged her son as tightly as she could.

“You’ll be gone for a little while Gohan so don’t forget to brush your teeth and read for at least two hours every day, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Listen to Mr. Krillin, Mr. Tien, and Bulma they’ll make sure you stay safe, okay?”

“…okay.”

Chichi broke the hug but remained at eye level with her hands on her son’s shoulders.

“You know you can still stay here if you want, no one would be angry with you.”

Gohan said nothing but shook his head in refusal.

“Alright I understand, whatever happens out there just know I am so proud of you Gohan, I think what you are doing is very brave. Okay?”

“O…okay.”

Bringing in Gohan for another tight hug Chichi spoke softly and slowly.

“I love you Gohan, I love you so much.”

The half-saiyan’s eyes went wide for a moment before falling down with drops of tears coating his cheeks. Slowly he returned the hug gripping Chichi and burying his head into his mother’s shoulder.

“….mommy.”

The moment was tender but it ripped at Krillin’s heart from the inside out. It only got worse when Bulma approached the two.

“It’s time.”

Chichi looked at her and nodded before kissing her son on the forehead.

Gohan smiled and watched his mother make her way to the platform before being lowered down gently. The young boy stared at Chichi until she was out of sight and the platform returned without her.

“Okay, brace yourselves we’re going,” Bulma said sitting down at the controls.

Krillin steadied himself and saw Gohan and Tien do the same.

“5 seconds to launch, destination: planet Namek!” Bulma said the console in front of her.

The ship pinged in response and before Krillin could blink the ship shot upward with the Kame House already out of sight. The ship rattled nearly knocking Gohan clean off his feet as it broke through the atmosphere. Within seconds Earth was far behind the namekian ship as it glided through space as if it were on the water.

“Alright, you can get up and walk around now.” Bulma announced to the passengers, “Things will calm down now that we’ve left Earth.”

“Already?” Gohan asked regaining his balance.

“Yep, I’m going to go change in the back so don’t bother me,” Bulma said as she made her way to the bathroom with a bag in hand.

Looking around Krillin noticed that everyone else seemed to have adopted their own routine fairly quickly. Tien was sprawled out on his bed and already seemed to be asleep while Gohan was still unpacking his books from his bags. It wasn’t until Krillin noticed Gohan taking out the gi he had been wearing during the saiyan fight did the monk feel the need to comment.

“Oh, Gohan you brought your gi?”

“….Mr. Piccolo gave them to me.” Gohan said sharply.

“Wow, you must really respect Piccolo huh?”

The half-saiyan did not answer and just went back to unpacking leaving Krillin high and dry.

_Well, that was fun. May as well get some more practice in while I have the time._

Krillin sat down in a corner and closed his eyes blocking out the noise of the ship and his own distracting thoughts. Allowing emptiness to surround him it wasn’t long before Krillin found himself in the familiar black space that Master Roshi had taught him how to form just days ago. Flexing his right arm and happy to have it around, if only inside his own head, Krillin adopted a basic stance and let his own breathing flow through him.

_Let’s start with the basics._

A hard punch from his right hand broke the silence in his mind as he began his routine. The monk kept his focus on his movements making sure they were as sharp and precise as they would be in actual combat. A lot of attention went into his right arm being the center of his exercise making sure he would be able to use it when it finally healed. A hard snap of a wild kick brought Krillin’s basics to a close. Taking a moment to center himself and let the routine wash over him Krillin slowly opened his eyes and readied himself for the next part of his workout.

_Enough talk; show me how a human dies._

The demand echoed throughout Krillin’s head as he turned to face a perfect reconstruction of Vegeta standing tall before him, ready to fight. Once again Krillin adopted his stance and took a moment before lunging at the prince with all of his power at his side.

Ever since Master Roshi had shown him how to use imagine training the monk had used it as his primary means of exercise. So it hadn’t taken him very long to realize that as long as he was in his own head there was nothing stopping him from reliving past fights. He had started with just reviewing his fights with Yamcha, Tien, and even Chiaotzu. The next step was discovering he could interact with those fights and even act out new scenarios based on how he reacted in them. While he was still able to win the fights against his friends easily he then moved onto a 1 on 1 fight against Nappa, which proved a lot more difficult. However, as he practiced, Krillin realized that in a 1 on 1 fight while Nappa was extremely powerful he was also easily distracted, prone to outbursts of rage, and generally lost control of himself if the battle started to turn against him. Without Vegeta to keep him focused Krillin was almost surprised at how easy it was to defeat the giant saiyan with a well-placed destructo disc. However, his confidence was soon shattered once he attempted the same tactics against Vegeta. Despite spending almost every waking hour going up against the saiyan prince even in his own mind Krillin had never emerged victorious. No matter what he tried to do or what angle he approached the fight Vegeta would easily destroy him with what seemed like very little effort.

A hard punch from Vegeta collapsed one of Krillin’s lungs as a fist full of blood erupted from his mouth.

_Hmm, disappointing, to say the least,_ The image of Vegeta said coyly. _I had hoped you would have at least lasted a minute._

Glaring at the prince and grasping what little energy he had left Krillin shot a blast of ki directly from his eyes which collided point blank against Vegeta’s face. The resulting explosion gave Krillin enough time to leap away still holding his chest trying to keep his other lung from failing.

_So you can release energy not only from your hands but anywhere you choose, very interesting,_ Vegeta said slowly as walked away from the crater Krillin’s blast had created, _However._

Before Krillin could react the saiyan prince disappeared from view and the monk felt two hands grab hold of his head and held it tight.

_Interesting won’t help you here human._

With one motion Krillin felt his neck twist in a completely wrong direction smoothly tearing the bone clean in half.

Ripping his eyes open and gasping for air Krillin had to catch himself from falling over his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

_Snapping my neck is new,_ Krillin thought as he massaged his throat _. Imaging new and different ways of dying can’t be healthy but I suppose it’s really the only way to avoid it happening for real._

“What are you doing?”

Krillin turned to see Tien standing over him his question still hanging in the air.

“Your energy is fluctuating widely, it’s distracting.”

“Oh sorry, I’m training.”

“By yourself in a corner?”

“Yeah, it’s something Master Roshi taught me, interested?”

Tien said nothing but sat down in front of the monk at the same.

“Alright, try to imagine yourself standing in your center, not how you are now but how you would like to appear.”

Watching his friend and sensing the change in the flow of his energy Krillin smiled glad to see his directions were being followed.

 “Good, now try to move around a bit but remain still. The only thing that should be moving is the you inside of your mind.”

Again Tien’s ki fluctuated and Krillin could see that this was working. So he closed his eyes as well and reached out searching for the darkness Tien currently inhabited. When he found it he wasn’t surprised to see Tien going through the same motions he had when Master Roshi had shown him the technique. Confusion ran rampant on his friend’s face as he tried to make sense of the great space within his mind. Turning to see the monk Krillin was surprised to see that despite being able to picture himself in any way he wished Tien was still missing his right hand.

_Where are we?_ asked Tien.

_We’re in a space between our minds, its called image training. By yourself, you’ll be able to practice as much as you want without the risk of hurting yourself, and with enough energy, two students of martial arts can link their minds together and train in a space between._

_So we can spar here?_ Tien quickly asked.

_Yeah, as much as we want. Interested?_

Tien nodded and Krillin smiled happy Tien still wanted to interact with him in some capacity.

_You know in here you can imagine yourself in any way you want to so you can have both arms if you want too, see._ Krillin said waving his right arm around to demonstrate.

_Why would I?_ Tien asked.

_Well, then you wouldn’t be at a disadvantage._

_Do you think I’m at a disadvantage?_

_Well, aren’t you?_

_I’ve lost my arm Krillin and unlike you, there’s no chance I’m getting it back. No amount of imagination is going to change that so I have to get used to it._

_Oh..right, sorry._

_Stop talking; I thought we were going to spar._ Tien said sharply.

_Yeah, okay._

Krillin took his stance quietly and waited for Tien to do the same. However, as time passed the monk could see that his friend had no intention of taking a stance as he stood still unmoving.

_Uh Tien, are you ready?_

_I am._

Despite the confirmation, Krillin watched Tien make no movements to signify the start of the battle.

_Guess I’ll make the first move._ Krillin thought to himself as he deepened into his stance before springing forward with blistering speed.

With Tien in his sights, the monk began his rush with a quick punch only to pull it back at the last second and attempt to strike where Tien was most vulnerable his right. Within seconds Krillin found himself positioned within striking distance. Charging in at full force Krillin fired a heavy punch straight at the three-eyed warrior’s unprotected ribs, only to hit nothing but air a second later.

_What?_ Krillin asked himself as he widely looked around for his sparring partner.

_I remember you being faster._

Hearing Tien’s voice Krillin spun around to face him only to see his friend standing tall and still not in a fighting stance.

_Sorry to disappoint._ Krillin laughed hoping for his friend to join in, Tien did not.

_Okay, well, here I come again._

Dropping back down into a fighting stance Krillin looked at Tien with a more cautious eye.

_He’s hiding something,_ Krillin thought to himself, _plus he’s taking this a lot more seriously than I thought he would. Guess he’s still angry. Regardless holding back won’t do either of us any good so might as well go full power from here._

The monk squared himself and brought his power to its limit before shooting two full powered beams of ki from his hands. The streaks of energy separated and then converged on Tien coming at the three-eyed warrior from two different angles.

Krillin fully expected for Tien to hit the first blast away with his left hand and be forced to dodge the second attack with his right hand to protect him leaving him wide open for an attack. Which is why he was completely surprised when Tien remained still and allowed the two beams to collide on top of him. The following explosion shook Krillin’s mind from the inside out and he watched his friend doused in an explosion of destructive energy. 

Despite the attack connecting Krillin stayed where he was. The casual demeanor Tien was treating this fight had set him on edge. As the smoke from the blast cleared Krillin could see that Tien remained completely unharmed and had yet to move at all.

_I remember you being stronger as well._ Tien said slowly.

This time Krillin didn’t laugh. Instead, he sank deeper into his stance and boosted the power of the barrier around him to its limit.

_This shouldn’t be happening. He’s never been that fast or durable even at his peak and this pressure he’s exerting is immense. It almost feels like I’m fighting Veg-_

Krillin’s thought process was cut short as swift chop at the back of his neck caught him completely off guard. His eyelids drooped as his conciseness started to waver and his body began to drop. Only to catch himself at the last second with a well-placed stomp that kept his balance and help him regain his composure. Jumping away from his backside attacker Krillin gained some distance only to see two different Tiens staring back at him.

_The multi-form technique_ Krillin thought to himself, _but when did he have time to perform it?  This isn’t just him coming up with a better strategy he’s completely out-paced me in both strength and speed. I can’t keep up. How did he get this much stronger so quickly?_

_I thought that would have knocked you out,_ both Tiens said at the same time, _looks like you’ve at least gotten a little tougher._

_I’ve been spending my free time training in my own head;_ Krillin answered, _of course, I’m more interested in what you’ve been doing to get this strong._

_If you win, I’ll tell you._ The Tiens said as they moved into each other forming one whole fighter once more.

_You say that like I won’t._ Krillin called back fully realizing his bluff would have little effect.

However, the monk guessed wrong, as the cocky challenge instead spurred Tien to make the first move shooting at Krillin faster than he could react. The heel of Tien’s foot collided with Krillin’s head hard enough that it ripped him out of his fighting stance and flew back completely horizontal. Flipping back onto his feet before he could hit the ground Krillin launched himself at the three-eyed warrior with a punch ready hoping for a chance at a counter attack. Tien smacked Krillin’s attempt away before backhanding the monk in one smooth motion. Landing on the small of his back Krillin pointed the bottom of his feet at his friend before shooting out two full-powered energy blasts from the soles of his feet disintegrating the shoes he had imaged himself wearing. Tien leaped into the air whether to avoid the beams or get a better angle of attack Krillin wasn’t sure.

_Dodon ray!_ Tien shouted pointing at the monk with energy encased finger.

The thin beam dove at Krillin and he was forced back onto his feet before jumping away to avoid the attack, only for the ray to curve away from the ground at the last second and propel itself at the monk again.

_Dammit!_

Krillin shifted to the side but not fast enough, letting the ray cut across his chest tearing through his clothes and flesh. Keeping his eyes on the blast as it snaked back at him again Krillin fired a blast of his own that collided with the ray and nullified it in a fiery explosion.

_Too slow._

Krillin turned at Tien’s words only to have his stomach kicked in hard by his friend. The barrier surrounding him shattered in an instant and the monk heaved as he fell onto his side. Tien watched as Krillin desperately tried to regain his breath which took several seconds to do. Once he had Krillin slowly got back onto his feet while wiping away a few strands of saliva that had dripped out of him. Tien had yet to make a move so Krillin reapplied his barrier, grasped all of his strength into his right fist, and shot a heavy punch directly at Tien’s stomach. The punch landed but Tien gave no sign that he was affected in any way.

_Too weak._

A kick that was too fast to react or see connected with the side of Krillin’s skull with a terrifying crack. Bouncing off of his shoulder once Krillin scrambled to find his feet before Tien could come after him. Seeing the three-eyed warrior rushing him he raised a hand above his head and quickly formed a disc of energy before throwing it directly at his sparring partner. In response, Tien lifted his left hand and formed half of a triangle before shouting,

_Tri-beam!_

The resulting blast of ki enveloped the destructo disc instantly and despite the technique’s history of cutting through ki blasts, the amount of energy Tien had poured into this attack disintegrated the disc without trouble, leaving Krillin unguarded and unprepared.

_Sh-_

Krillin didn’t have time to finish his thought as the tri-beam slammed into him with enough force to shatter his barrier yet again and tossed him onto his back like a lifeless doll. The monk coughed once and opened his eyes to see Tien standing above him with a hand filled with ki pointed directly at his head.

_You lost._ The three-eyed warrior said slowly.

Krillin said nothing in response but gave a silent nod which was enough for Tien to lower his arm and walk away.

_You drank the Ultra Divine Water, didn’t you?_

Tien paused and turned back around to see Krillin back on his feet panting slightly.

_I did what you couldn’t._ Tien answered _I went to Korin’s hoping he had another spare senzu bean I could use. Instead, he told me about the water and how you refused the drink. Unlike you, I wasn’t afraid._

_That stuff could have killed you Tien!_

_It didn’t._

_Why take the risk? Just for strength?!_

_I did it because you failed!_ Tien shouted with his back still facing the monk, _Chiaotzu, Yamcha, Yajirobi, and even Piccolo died to save Earth and in return you let their killer run free._

Krillin paused at the anger in Tien’s voice but continued, _that doesn’t explain how your injuries healed overnight._

_It wasn’t overnight; it was five months later, thanks to the hyperbolic time chamber._

_Fi…five months? Tien that’s…that’s too much._

_No, if anything it wasn’t enough._

Tien turned to look at Krillin his face almost devoid of emotion.

_I’ll bring Chiaotzu and everyone else back with Namek’s dragonballs, and I’ll do it by myself. I’m going to keep getting stronger, stronger than both Vegeta and Goku.  So if the saiyan prince ever returns to Earth I won’t be as forgiving as you regardless of what Goku has to say._

_Tien,_ Krillin started _, there’s a reason Goku wanted me to spare-_

_I don’t care about his reason, he convinced you to let a murderer go. As far as I’m concerned neither of you have a reason good enough to do that._

Tien turned away from Krillin making it clear that he was done talking, but Krillin wasn’t.

_It’s not easy to kill someone._ The monk said slowly.

_Maybe for you, but right now I’m stronger than you’ll ever be._

Without another word, Tien vanished from the blackness leaving Krillin alone with his thoughts and mistakes.


	4. Recovery and Growth

 

Krillin woke surrounded in white. White that stretched out in front of him endless in scope with nothing near or far from him, just white. A chill caked his body covering the monk in a cold he could not shake.

_No. Not here, anywhere but here!_

Tearing himself away from the void and shutting his eyes the next thing he noticed was the silence that consumed him which he could not escape.

_Not again not again!_

The chill he felt thrashed at him like a starving animal as he began to shiver clutching his sides. His teeth began to chatter and his breath started to come out in quick bursts all in a pointless attempt to stay warm.

_Please, I can’t do this again!_

Without warning the freezing air that consumed Krillin turned into a sweltering heat. The monk’s heart and mind boiled as his shivers changed into heaving gasps of air.

“Please stop!” Krillin cried out into the never-ending white hoping someone, anyone would rescue him.

 “Three hours.”

The voice that hung in the air was instantly recognizable to Krillin. It forced him to open his eyes to see Nappa standing as tall as he did when he was alive, yet there was a gaping hole in his head that gave Krillin a clear view into his skull.

“Three hours,” Nappa repeated as he started to walk toward Krillin his hole spitting out droplets of blood that ran down his face and neck.

“Stop!” Krillin pleaded already backing away from the saiyan.

Nappa did not stop, instead, his pace increased the hole in his head seeming to widen with every step he took.

“STOP!” Krillin screamed.

“Three hours!” Nappa repeated again his blood dripping down onto the white and coating it in red.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!”

Krillin raised his hands and brought his power forward ready to blast Nappa away. Only for the hulking saiyan to close the gap in an instant and wrap his giant hands around the monk’s throat.

“THREE HOURS!”

Krillin’s eyes bulged and he could feel his air stop. He clawed at Nappa’s hands but the saiyan’s grip held firm as he squeezed tighter. Krillin’s neck started to creak and groan before a loud crunch rang out across the white.

* * *

 

Krillin snapped up out of bed gasping for air his hands at his throat praying it was still in one piece. It took several minutes for the monk to calm down and get his bearings before both his breathing, heart rate, and a dense throbbing in his right arm finally slowed down. Looking around the namekian ship Krillin was relieved to see that his nightmare hadn’t woken anyone. Bulma, Gohan, and Tien were still sleeping soundly and seemed to have slept through Krillin’s panic attack without any trouble.

_Good…good._

Krillin shook his head trying to dislodge the nightmare from his mind.

_That dream again, that’s what? The third time this week?_

It had actually been the fourth time over the course of the week, which had been the longest seven days of Krillin’s life. The ship was big thanks to Bulma’s hard work but not big enough that Krillin couldn’t make eye contact with Tien or Gohan every now and then. Gohan still wasn’t talking to the monk instead preferring to read his books and talk with Bulma about the ship. Tien, on the other hand, had even less to say. Since the fight, the three-eyed warrior hadn’t spoken a word to Krillin instead spending most of his time image training. Krillin had also used most of the past week image training and thinking of new ways to approach a 1 on 1 fight with Vegeta. Though he had also added Tien to his training routine he quickly discovered with his new boost in power the monk was incapable of besting his friend just like the saiyan prince.

_I’m getting nowhere just fighting and losing over and over in my own head. Plus I can’t even focus that much thanks to that dream._

Krillin eye’s wandered over to the clock that the crew had been using as a schedule. A soft glow of blue with the numbers 3:37 informed him that it was still very early in the morning back on Earth.

_Not even 4:30, this dream is really getting to me. Don’t think I’m getting any more sleep either._

Running a hand down his face trying to wake up the monk considered coffee but realized that would probably make too much noise.

_Don’t feel like training yet, was I smart enough to pack a magazine or something?_

Silently Krillin got up from his bed careful not to hit his right arm against anything and crept to where his bag rested in the back. Dropping to a knee Krillin carefully started to search his bag feeling around for something he could use to kill the time.

_Clothes, clothes, clothes, ah here we go!_

The monk pulled out a magazine that had caught his attention due to the front cover which featured Yamcha posing with a baseball bat. Tucking it under his arm Krillin snuck into the bathroom before closing the door, turning on the light, and sitting down on the toilet for some light reading. Opening the magazine up to the feature article Krillin scanned the pages until he found Yamcha’s name.

**The End of the Wolf?**

**In a move that has baffled sports fans and experts across the country Yamcha the Taitan’s hard-hitting slugger has left the sport for reasons unknown. The man known as The Wolf took the baseball world by storm only three years ago, rising through the ranks at a blistering pace before being drafted by the Taitans at the age of 28. Wearing number 00 Yamcha dominated the field as a shortstop but his true talent shined in the batter box where he seemed to hit homers almost on command. No matter what type of pitcher the Wolf went up against it was almost a guarantee that the ball would be sailing out of the stadium every time. However, that bright future seemed to end during a game against the Rockets when a fight broke out between the two teams. The Wolf was seen in the middle of the brawl before disappearing amidst the chaos and has not been seen since. The Head Coach of the Taitans Freddy Hein had this to say,**

**“The Wolf isn’t done he can’t be done! He’s got a contract that he is in blatant violation in and as soon as he shows his face again we’re going to work him like a dog!”**

**How the Wolf’s disappearance will affect the rest of the Taitan’s season remains to be seen.**

Krillin put down the article with a soft smile remembering how bored Yamcha had looked during the baseball game only to break out in a huge grin once the fighting had started.

_He’s a fighter at heart, baseball was probably too slow for him. Then again at least it was a career he could follow. He wouldn’t have pursued it if he didn’t have any interest right?_

With a sign, Krillin leaned back onto the toilet and looked up at the low ceiling.

_What about me? I’ve been doing the same chores I did as a kid to make money. Thankfully it’s been enough to sustain us but is that really all I want to do? If we’re lucky enough to bring everyone back and take care of Vegeta what’s next? If Kami doesn’t make it should I become the next guardian of Earth? Does that pay? What do I even want to do with my life?_

A knock on the bathroom door interrupted Krillin and had him nearly jumping out of his skin.

“Bulma? Is that you?”

_Huh? Is that Gohan?_

The soft question came out from the other side of the bathroom. Getting up off the toilet Krillin opened the door to reveal a small Gohan in his pajamas rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Sorry, no Bulma, just me. She’s still sleeping” Krillin whispered.

Gohan looked at Krillin and it was easy to see his disappointment but surprisingly he didn’t leave.

“Is there anything I can do?” Krillin quietly asked.

Gohan shifted unsure if he should explain.

“It’s okay Gohan, you can tell me.”

“I…” Gohan started, “I miss…I miss my mom.”

Krillin blinked once a little surprised the little half-saiyan actually shared his feelings with him.

_He’s probably missed her since we left, what can I do though?...oh!_

“How about a story?” Krillin said with a smile, “Would that help?”

Gohan thought about it for a moment before gifting the monk with a small nod.

“Okay, come in here though we don’t want to wake up Bulma and Tien.”

Gohan nodded again and walked into the bathroom where he took a seat on the toilet with the lid down.

“So, a story huh? Haven’t had one of those in a while have we, but which one to tell?” Krillin said playing up the decision, “How about the one when your dad battled against the Red Ribbon Army? Or maybe when Goku swam across the whole ocean just so he could qualify for the world tournament?”

“Do you know any stories about my mom?”

The question had Krillin fumbling for a moment.

“Your mom?...I’m-I’m sure I do.”

_Do I?_

Furrowing his brow and thinking intensely for a moment helped Krillin remember when he first met Chichi at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. She and Goku fought an intense battle which ended with Goku’s victory and a fiancée.

_Is that a good enough story though? His mom and dad sort of fought and there is a lot of talking in it. Plus how do I explain that Goku didn’t even know what marriage meant? I don’t want to be too loud that I wake Tien or Bulma either. How can I do this?_

Looking back at Gohan Krillin could see the wait for a story was already disappointing the young half-saiyan.

_Wait…what if I didn’t have to tell him. What if I could show him instead?_

“Gohan,” Krillin started, “Instead of just telling you a story how about we try something I think you would like a lot more.”

“More?”

“Yep, the first step is that you have to close your eyes.”

“Like this?” Gohan asked following the instruction.

“Good, now try to imagine yourself standing in your center, not how you are now but how you would like to appear.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means to picture yourself inside of your own head, give it a shot.”

Gohan tried and Krillin could sense a soft change in the boy’s energy flow just as his and Tien’s had.

“Good job, next try to move around a bit but remain still. The only thing that should be moving is the you inside of your mind.”

It took a second but Gohan’s ki rippled again and Krillin knew it had worked. Sitting down on the bathroom floor Krillin joined the young saiyan in the space between their minds. Once there he quickly found Gohan reacting to the space as he and Tien had.

_Where are we?_ Gohan asked when he saw Krillin walking toward him.

_We’re in a space between our minds and it’s something two students of martial arts can do when they link their minds together and train in a space between. It’s called image training._

_Is this what you and Mr. Tien have been doing all day?_ Gohan asked.

_Yeah, but we’re not here to train right now._

_Then what are we doing?_

Krillin smiled, _Telling a story._

Concentrating on the space around him Krillin began to morph the darkness into something real. Slowly the blue of Earth’s sky, the shape of the familiar tournament ring, and the roar of the crowd came to life and surrounded the monk and young half-saiyan. In seconds Krillin had used his memory of the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament and made it real. Looking around the monk could see that everything was exactly as he had remembered it. The cheer of the fans, the feel of the ring, and the smell of sweat brought him right back to this moment which was actually years ago.

_Phew, glad that worked._ The monk thought to himself.

While it was novel for Krillin it was mind-blowing for Gohan who looked around widely trying to get a sense of what just happened.

_Where are we now?_ Gohan asked nearly tripping over himself trying to get a look at everything.

_We’re at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament six years ago. I used my memories of the tournament back then so they would appear here for you._

_Why are we here?_

_Well, you wanted a story about your mom right? Who do you think that is over there?_

Gohan looked and saw a younger Goku and a younger Chichi fighting in the center of the ring.

_That’s my mom and dad?_

_Yep, that’s what they looked like 6 years ago. At the time Goku didn’t recognize your mom at all but they met when they were kids, even before your dad knew me._

_Wow. Mom looks mad._

Chichi was steaming mad. Going after Goku with a combination of fast knife strikes and kicks Chichi was sending out an offensive blitz of attacks. This left Goku on the defensive as he weaved through every small opening given to him.

“Have I ever met you before?” Goku asked with a great leap backward away from the furious woman.

“You really know how to lay on the charm, don’t you? Of course, we’ve met before!” Chichi shouted running after the spiky-haired saiyan.

Gohan could only watch with wide eyes as he looked in awe of the martial arts spectacle.

_I didn’t know my mom could fight like that._ The small half-saiyan said as he watched.

_Really?_ Krillin asked a little surprised.

Gohan shook his head still unable to look away from the fight.

 “If you don’t mind could you tell me what I forgot, so I can remember?” Goku asked still trying to keep his distance from the very angry Chichi.

“Have you forgotten the promise you made as well?” The daughter of the Ox King snarled.

_Promise?_ Gohan asked.

_You’ll see._

Goku leaped up into the air most likely to avoid the continued wrath of Chichi only to be instantly followed by the warrior woman. Chichi unleashed a barrage of strikes at Goku who seemed to almost struggle a bit to avoid the assault. Eventually, the two landed back onto the ground and there was a pause in the fighting.

“I know you’re angry but tell me what I promised you, please?” Goku pleaded.

“You’re serious? You really can’t remember?! Fine! I’ll tell you the promise you broke!” Chichi screamed her face scrunched in fury, “You said that I would be your bride! You promised to marry me!”

Krillin almost snorted at Chichi’s screams and Goku’s reaction. Even now the confusion on Goku’s face was still priceless.

_My dad forgot he proposed to my mom?_

_So it seems._

Gohan paused for a moment before letting out a little giggle that evolved into a hard laugh.

_When dad forgets to get firewood or bring in the laundry mom says that’ll one day he’ll forget everything except his stomach._

Imagining Goku doing laundry actually forced the snort out of Krillin followed by a hearty laugh of his own. The half-saiyan and monk laughed with each other for a moment before Gohan let out a long yawn.

_Looks like its bedtime._ Krillin said with a smile.

_I’m okay. I want to see more._

_We’ve got a long trip Gohan let’s put a pin in this for now. We can pick it up again later._

_…okay._

Krillin opened his eyes and watched Gohan do the same.

“Alright Gohan you should go back to bed, for now, it’ll be a couple of hours before Bulma and Tien are up anyway.”

“What about you?”

“I…once I get up I have a hard time getting back to sleep.”

“Just like Mr. Piccolo. I never saw him sleep either.”

Krillin blinked in surprise at how easily Gohan mentioned Kami’s other half, “Yeah…I guess we are kind of similar.”

“I…I miss him too.”

“I know Gohan, but that’s why we’re going to Namek to get him back.” Krillin said kneeling down so he was eye-level with the half-saiyan, “I know you may still be angry at me for making promises I couldn’t keep just like your mom was mad at your dad. But Goku eventually kept his promise and did marry your mom, so I’m going to try to do the same. I said everyone was going home and I meant it. I’ll do my best on Namek and I know you will too. Okay?”

“…okay.”

“Okay, now I believe it’s still bedtime right?

Gohan nodded and got off the toilet lid before walking toward the bathroom door.

“Thanks for the story…Mr. Krillin.”

Before the monk could respond Gohan had closed the door behind him with a soft click.

_That actually went rather well._ Krillin thought while letting out a sigh of relief. _Not sure if he’s completely forgiven me but at least that’s a start._

Reaching for the door Krillin paused when he realized that the magazine he had brought with him was still on the sink.

_Better put this away before I forget._

Grabbing the magazine and stretching out with a silent yawn of his own Krillin almost jumped when he heard something hit the bathroom floor with a soft clack. Looking down Krillin saw a small capsule that had fallen out of the magazine.

_A capsule? Weird I don’t remember packing that._

The monk bent down and picked up the capsule before looking over it with a wary eye. 

_Doesn’t have a number or a name on it, can’t be anything too important though._

Pressing down on the button and tossing it to the ground the capsule exploded in a small cloud of smoke. It only took a second for the smoke to clear before revealing a scroll.

_What’s this?_

Grabbing the scroll off the floor Krillin undid the knot that kept it rolled up before opening up the parchment. As he did a second capsule fell out of the scroll.

_How many of these are there?_

Picking up the new capsule and placing it on the nearby sink Krillin returned his focus to the scroll. Glancing over a series of scratching hand-writing Krillin recognized the writer as the old man he lives with, Master Roshi.

**Krillin,**

**I’ve debated writing this ever since you returned from your fight. I wish I had more time to gather my thoughts but I’ll have to settle for this. It is unclear if this trip you’re on is going to be dangerous but I’m going to assume it is and I feel it would be best if you are prepared for it. To that end, I’ve enclosed a technique of mine for you to learn, my last technique. It is the most powerful attack I posses which means it is also the most lethal. Both for the opponent, and the user. This technique should only be used when there are no other options for victory. If you learn and use this skill I only ask that you be careful with it as it is extremely powerful. It is the Turtle Style’s Last Resort also known as the Thunder Shock Surprise and you saw me use it on Goku at the 21st World Martial Tournament.**  

_What? I don’t understand. Goku never fought Master Roshi in the Tournament. Wait there’s more…_

**P.S. I am Jackie Chun.**

_WHAT?_

**P.P.S. I have left you an even greater treasure in the second capsule only to be used in extreme situations. It’s going to be a long trip and you will need it more than I. Good luck my student and be safe.**

After spending a full two minutes trying to wrap his head around Jackie Chun’s true identity Krillin continued to read. He could see that his master had indeed left him a series of instructions on performing the Last Resort. The user of the technique shoots a lightning blast towards the target using both hands and traps the opponent within an electric field. While it seemed basic the real challenged seemed to be using this technique to turn all the energy in the user's body into volts of electricity.

_Master Roshi must have put this in my bag before I left. There’s a lot here and it looks complicated too. Hard to believe ki can be used in this way as well but I have seen this technique in action so I know it’s possible. Hopefully, this will keep me busy for the rest of the trip to Namek. I’ll test it out during my image training and it might be enough to help me get an edge over Vegeta. But the real question is…_

Krillin looked at the second capsule he had left on the sink.

_What’s in there?_

Holding it in his hands Krillin looked over the capsule with an intense gaze.

_If the first capsule held Master Roshi’s greatest technique what kind of treasure would be even greater? I’d call this conflict between me and Tien an extreme situation but maybe I should wait. No doubt Tien is still suffering from the effects of staying in the time chamber too long and unlike me; he didn’t have Kami to help him out after. Whatever is in this capsule isn’t going to fix that overnight plus I may need it for whatever we find on Namek._

Nodding to himself and stuffing the capsule into his pocket Krillin let out another yawn before reopening the scroll his master gave him and began to silently read in the spaceship’s bathroom.

* * *

 

_Hmm, disappointing, to say the least,_ The image of Vegeta said coyly. _I had hoped you would have at least lasted a minute._

Krillin coughed in response and clutched his stomach as he backed away from the saiyan prince’s hard kick.

_Then again it was hard to expect anything substantial from a human._

Krillin coughed again and before spitting a wad of blood out of his mouth.

_Well, this training session seems to be going just as well as the rest._

It was yet another day spent image training and Krillin found himself facing down an imaginary Vegeta once again.

_Are you done, little man? Is that all you have?_ The fake saiyan sneered.

The monk ignored Vegeta’s insult and crouched down to start gathering his energy.

_Oh? Do you still intend to fight human?_

Again Krillin shook off the taunt and fired off two heavy ki blasts directly at the saiyan prince. As soon as he had the monk circle around and moved quickly at Vegeta’s unguarded back. Vegeta smirked before knocked the energy beams away with one hand which gave him enough time to turn and grasp Krillin by the throat and lift him off of his feet.

_Your persistence would be inspiring if it wasn’t so pathetic._

Krillin gagged a response but allowed a sly smile to cross his face. This gave Vegeta just enough warning to turn his head and see another Krillin directly behind him. The one currently being chocked was a double Krillin had sent out as a distraction in order to use the extra seconds to charge up his attack.

With both palms pressed together, Krillin concentrated on bringing all of his energy into his two hands while simultaneously converting it into pure electricity. It hadn’t been easy for Krillin to learn how to change his ki into a different form of energy but as the days on the namekian ship became weeks the conversion time slowly grew faster and faster. As the monk felt his ki shift and change both his hands became a conduit for thousands of volts of electricity. Small sparks of lighting snapped, cracked, and danced across the air surrounding the monk’s fingers.

The saiyan prince crushed the throat of Krillin’s double and let the body drop onto the ground before charging at the original ready for another kill. With the death of his double Krillin felt his strength diminish but the several moments the distraction gained him was just enough to prepare.

Throwing both palms forward at Vegeta the concentrated lighting finally had a direction to go and an enemy to consume. The blast screamed out at the saiyan prince streaking across the ground before enveloping Vegeta in a bright light that shattered the surrounding darkness. The recoil from the blast almost dislocated both of Krillin’s arms but the practice he had put into this technique had fully prepared him.

_What?!_

That was the last word the saiyan prince got out before he was swallowed up by the lighting attack and lifted up off the ground. Thousands of volts of electricity stabbed him at every angle while stilling his movement and increasing the voltage every second.

_You worm!_ Vegeta screamed as the electricity crackled around him.

Krillin didn’t answer as every part of him was concentrating solely on maintaining the electric cage that engulfed his opponent. The strain on both his energy and body was immense forcing the monk to push himself further then he thought he could go just to hold the saiyan prince still.

_This can’t hold me human! Nothing can!_

With a strong flex of his power, Vegeta shattered the electricity that had caged him and threw the monk off balance. Taking a step back to find his center Krillin gasped for air with both hands sizzling from his lighting attack.

_Damn, I’m using even more electricity than Master Roshi did against Goku but that still isn’t enough to stop him._ Krillin thought to himself, _he either dodges the attack entirely or gets caught and busts right out of it. As strong as this technique is it doesn’t seem that effective against stronger opponents._

As Krillin tried to regain his breath from the after effects some electricity lingered in his hands, shooting up and down from the tips of his fingers to his shoulder blades. While the monk had trained and practiced a lot with the technique it still ached to have thousands of volts skating through his limbs. Yet with his adrenaline pumping and his focus squarely on Vegeta Krillin was didn’t notice that he was still generating a large amount of electricity throughout his body.

_You little nothing!_ Vegeta shouted, directing his fury toward Krillin. _I’ll turn you inside out human!_

Krillin watched Vegeta rush at him his smirk from early devolved into a rage-filled scowl.

_I guess even this image training session is another failure._

Krillin steeled himself and gripped his blistering hands into fists.

_That doesn’t mean I’m going down without a fight!_

The prince of all saiyans reared back a punch with the full intention of running down the monk and making good on his threat. Krillin readied himself to meet the attack head on and prepared his own fist still unaware that his hands still shook with electricity.

_Die!_ The prince howled as he let his fist fly at Krillin.

The monk read the path of the saiyan’s strike and met the punch with one of his own. He could feel his knuckles crunch into Vegeta’s but the saiyan overpowered him almost instantly. Krillin felt his arm splinter and his hand shattered from the exchange. The limb fell down already dead while the monk was knocked off his feet just from the force of the punch. Finding his feet wasn’t easy but Krillin landed on them as soon as he could before gripping his broken arm in an attempt to stop the pain.

_What? What is this?!_

Krillin broke focus with his arm to look at the confused Vegeta who seemed to be having problems with his own limb. The monk watched as electricity slithered up and down the saiyan prince’s arm rendering it limp and useless. During the contest of strength, the lighting that had gripped Krillin’s hands had been passed through onto Vegeta making his right arm completely numb and unable to move. Even though this wasn’t the first time Krillin had used the Last Resort on Vegeta he had never seen it have this effect. Looking at his left hand and seeing the lighting still running through it Krillin quickly put two and two together.

_The…the electricity, it’s completely disabled his arm!  I’ve been training so much with this technique that I’ve gotten used to the feeling but I remember reacted the same way Vegeta is when I tried this attack out for the first time. It must be because the voltage is focused just on one limb instead of encasing the entire body. Wait, don’t think about it. Move!_

His own pain long forgotten Krillin poured his last remaining strength and energy into his left hand creating a smaller destructo disc the size of a small buzzsaw. With no time to waste the monk charged forward the mini disc in his hand growing with speed and power. Distracted by his useless arm Vegeta didn’t notice Krillin until he was nearly upon him. Striking out with his remaining hand left Vegeta defenseless which is exactly what Krillin needed. Having grown a little accustomed to the saiyan prince’s speed the monk read the path of Vegeta’s attack and dodged. With no protection left Krillin had a clear shot at Vegeta’s neck and with a clean swipe of his arm, he took both the saiyan’s head and the victory.

_…did…did that work?_

Turning around Krillin saw Vegeta’s head and his body were fully separated, the fight was over. While this gruesome sight would nauseate any normal person after weeks of attempts, Krillin relished in it.

_I…I won. I won! I really wo-_

“Krillin!”

* * *

 

Opening his eyes at his screamed name the image training Krillin had been enduring ended. Blinking once to get a sense of his surroundings he looked up from his sitting position to see Bulma towering over him with a scowl.

“Bulma? What’s going on?”

“Glad to see you finally join us, I was worried you’d be so deep in your own head you’d miss it.”

“Miss what?”

“Our arrival.”

The blue-haired scientist walked away toward the ship’s window leaving the monk scrambling to his feet. Running to the window to join Bulma, Gohan and Tien Krillin gapped in amazement at the planet before him. As far as Krillin could tell the planet was roughly the same size as Earth but instead of a wash of blue, white, and green colors that coated his home, this planet shared light green with small stripes of white that shined brightly in the dark of space.

“That’s Namek?” Gohan asked his face pressing up against the window.

“Yep, and it’s about time too,” Bulma answered almost looking proud.

It had been 34 days since the Earthlings had started their journey to Namek and 27 days since Krillin had discovered Master Roshi’s scroll. In that time Krillin had image trained for the majority of the trip practicing fighting techniques against an imaginary Vegeta. However, despite the hours spent training today marked the first time Krillin had won a fight against the saiyan prince.

 “Good, now we can start finding the dragonballs,” Tien said his gaze fixed on Namek.

Krillin watched the three-eyed warrior carefully.

_Tien’s been image training a lot as well. I wonder how many times he beat Vegeta?_

Shaking his head to get rid of the question Krillin once again looked out at the green planet.

_It doesn’t matter. I don’t know what’s waiting for us on Namek and if this will go smoothly or not, but I’ve practiced for this. Even though I’ve only beaten Vegeta once in my own head a win is a win and I did it by myself.  I’m stronger than I was before…I can do this._

The monk raised his fully-healed right hand to eye-level and crushed it into a fist before streaming a light volt of electricity through his entire right arm.

_I’m ready._


	5. Looming Threats

“Okay everyone, buckle up. We’re in for a big jolt once I bring this thing in for a landing.” Bulma said strapping herself into the pilot’s chair.

The others obeyed without question each finding a free chair and quickly buckling themselves in. Once they were all secure Bulma turned toward the ship's console.

“Begin landing procedures for any suitable terrain.”

The console beeped once in response before the entire ship shot downward aimed toward Namek’s surface. Krillin could feel the ship shake slightly as they tore through the planet’s atmosphere the sight out of the window a beautiful mix of wind and fire. Then without warning a great thud shook the entire ship as its legs hit the ground. The crew waited a moment for the craft to settle before letting out a collective sigh of relief. They had arrived on Namek.

“We did it!” Gohan yelled excitedly unbuckling himself from his seat, “We landed on Namek!”

The half-saiyan jumped out of his seat and started to run toward the ship’s exit.

“Gohan wait!”

The young boy froze at his name and turned toward Krillin who had called it.

“Bulma, is it safe to go outside?”

“Not sure, I need to examine the atmosphere’s composition first. I installed some sensors that can scan the area and tell us if there is any oxygen,” Bulma said while tinkering with a nearby machine. “That being said it’ll be a miracle if there’s any oxygen on this planet at all. So I’ve prepared atmospheric masks that should help us survive.”

“How long will they last?” Tien asked slowly.

“24 hours. We each have 1 so we can take turns on the planet surface with the dragon radar to maximize our search efforts.”

“We’ll have to take turns?” Gohan whined.

“Maybe not Gohan but we have to make sure it’s safe. We can’t just walk outside the ship without checking.” Krillin said with a smile.

*Beep* *Beep*

The machine Bulma had been looking at seemed to light up while blinking and beeping widely.

“Whoa,” Bulma said looking over a series of numbers the machine had displayed, “Not only is their oxygen on Namek these readings seem to indicate that we’ll be able to walk on the surface as easily as we would on home.”

“Really?” Krillin said with wide eyes.

“Makes sense,” Tien said slowly “Piccolo was able to survive on Earth with no issues it stands to reason that Namek would be similar in some capacity.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Bulma said as she put away the machine.

“So, can we go outside now?” Gohan asked struggling to hide his anticipation.

“Yep, we are all set.”

Without waiting to hear another word Gohan dashed to the ship’s exit. Within seconds the half-saiyan was outside looking around the alien planet.

“Wow!”

Krillin quickly followed Gohan outside and joined him in taking in Namek’s view. The first difference between Namek and Earth that struck the monk was the planet’s sky. Instead of the warm blue of Earth, the sky on Namek was covered in light green, this was the same color as the water that ran through a thin river nearby. Some trees that surrounded the landing point were held up with brown trunks same as Earths yet the leaves were dyed a dark blue. The clouds that caked the sky shone a light orange while the ground that Krillin stood on seemed to be a mix of blue and green.

_This really is another planet, isn’t it?_

It was hard not to be amazed by the scenery that surrounded them. It reminded Krillin of the area that he had found Piccolo and Gohan training months ago.

_I wonder if Piccolo had chosen that space due to his instinct? Earth’s wilderness doesn’t seem too different from Namek aside from the colors._

“It’s amazing.”

Krillin turned to see Tien standing beside Gohan soaking in the view as much as he could.

“Yeah, it’s great but there had better be dragonballs here or this whole trip is pointless,” Bulma said pulling out the dragon radar from her pocket and turning it on.

*Ch-chik*

The crew held their breath as the radar paused to scan the planet for the wish-granting spheres.

*Pii Pii Pii*

The radar sprang to light and lit up with the location of four different dragonballs not that far from the crew’s current location.

“It’s a signal!” Bulma shouted, “I’ve got a lock!”

Krillin breathed a sigh of relief.

_Good…that’s… really good._

“Looks like we’ll be able to bring everyone back soon!” Krillin said looking over to Tien and Gohan.

However, neither the half-saiyan nor the three-eyed warrior responded to Krillin instead were looking off into Namek’s distance.

“What’s wrong?” Krillin asked already sensing something was off.

“There’s a strong ki over there,” Gohan said pointing in the direction he was staring at.

Krillin looked and took a moment to see if he could feel the same ki signature. He got his answer in an instant. Multiple sources of immense energy littered the same location.

“You’re right Gohan, who could they be?”

“Come on guys, it’s probably just the namekians. Both Piccolo and Kami were pretty strong, right? It makes sense that the namekians here would be similar.”

“No, this power doesn’t feel like Piccolo or Kami,” Tien said his eyes narrowing. “It feels evil.”

“Evil? Didn’t King Kai say that the namekians were peaceful?” Bulma said looking a little worried.

“He did,” Tien replied slowly. “Bulma where does the radar say the dragonballs are?”

“Uh, they look like they’re in that direction,” Bulma said pointing in the same direction Gohan and Tien were looking at.

“I was afraid of that.”

“Uh, Mr. Krillin?”

Krillin looked at Gohan who seemed to be pointing at something in the sky.

“What is that?”

Krillin turned and felt his blood run cold. Screaming through the green sky he could clearly see a spherical ship diving planet-side at a voracious speed. Krillin recognized it instantly.

“Wait…haven’t we seen that before?”

The monk ignored Bulma’s question and shouted,

“Mask your energy now!”

Gohan obeyed immediately while Tien paused before relenting. Krillin looked back at the ship watching it fall out of the sky and crash into Namek’s ground.

_Could that really be Vegeta? I can’t sense his energy he must be hiding it somehow but there’s no mistaking that ship. He must know about the dragonballs too!_

“Mr. Krillin, what’s wrong?”

The monk wasn’t sure how to answer Gohan’s question the panic on his face had already tipped off both Gohan and Tien that something was wrong.

_Neither of them saw Vegeta’s ship so of course, they wouldn’t recognize it._

“That’s the ship Vegeta used when he left Earth.”

“What?” Tien said with a bit of bite. “Vegeta’s here?”

“There’s no question that’s his ship, he’s probably here for the dragonballs as well.”

“…good.”

Without another word, Tien took off into the Namek sky flying straight at where Vegeta’s ship had landed.

“Tien wait!”

Despite Krillin’s shout, Tien was soon out of sight flying as fast as he possibly could.

“Damnit Tien! We need to stick together!”

“Wa..what do we do now?”

Krillin turned to see Bulma shaking with fear and Gohan already overwhelmed.

_Calm down, losing my cool now isn’t going to help anybody._

“Bulma can you get that radio you talked about working now? We need to get in contact everyone back home to tell them what’s going on. If Vegeta’s here we’ll need Goku as soon as possible.”

“R-right! Give me a second!”

Bulma jumped back into the ship and started getting the radio set up.

“Mr. Krillin what can I do?” Gohan asked eager to help.

“You’ll need to help Bulma find a place to hide; you’ll need to find a cave or something to keep yourselves out of sight. With both Vegeta and those strange energy sources here the fewer people that know we’re here the better.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll take the dragon radar and go after Tien.”

“What? But I want to help you find the dragonballs!”

“It’s too dangerous Gohan you’ll be safer staying with Bulma.”

“But-”

 “Okay, I got it!”

Krillin and Gohan turned to see Bulma lowering herself on the ship’s platform with a small radio box and a large antenna with numerous wires running back up into the ship. Placing the radio on the ground Bulma also unlatched a phone and brought it up to her ear while dialing the frequency needed to contact Earth. After a few seconds of static Master Roshi’s voice was picked up already sounding a little irritated.

“Yes? Who is this? What’s so important you have to interrupt my lunch?”

“Shove it you old pervert! We’ve got an emergency on our hands!”

“Is that Bulma? Did you make it to Namek?”

“Yeah we just got here but so did Vegeta!”

“What!”

“Let Goku and the others know he has to get here as fast as he can! But don’t mention anything to Chichi!”

“Right! Wait, is Krillin there with you?”

“Yeah, he’s right here,” Bulma said handing the phone over to the monk.

“Hey, can you hear me?” Krillin said after putting the phone to his ear.

“Yes, did you find the capsule I left you?”

“I sure did Jackie Chun.”

“Yes, that was one of my better ideas I have to say.” Master Roshi said with a laugh.

“I got your other capsule as well.”

“Wait, you haven’t used it yet?”

“No, you said it was only for emergencies. Which is good since Vegeta is here.”

 “Wait it’s not-”

“Mr. Krillin!”

Krillin turned away from the phone to see Gohan pointing back up into the sky, directly at another spaceship falling onto Namek that looked identical to the ship from earlier.

_Wait, is that another saiyan ship? I thought Goku and Vegeta were the last saiyans alive! What is going on?_

“Master I have to go now.”

“Wait Kri-”

Krillin hung up before Master Roshi could finish and rushed back over to Gohan to get a better look at the falling spacecraft.

“This is just great!” Bulma shouted, “How are we supposed to get out of this mess?!”

“You guys need to leave.”

Bulma turned toward Krillin whose face remained completely still as he spoke.

“Bulma you need to take Gohan and get back to Earth as soon as you can. If Goku’s ship works like you said he should be here in six days right?”

“Y-yeah but you can’t just stay here! You’ll be killed!”

“If Vegeta summons the dragon it’s all over for us no matter where we are. With the radar, we should have the advantage of finding a dragonball faster than him and as long as we have one he can’t summon the dragon. I’ll try and talk some sense into Tien and together we’ll survive the six days here. Once Goku arrives the three of us will be able to overpower Vegeta.”

“No!”

Krillin turned to Gohan whose shout completely quieted the area.

“I’m not going!”

“Gohan-” Bulma started.

“I’m not leaving! I’m not-”

“Gohan!”

The half-saiyan flinched at his name and looked at Krillin.

“Now is not the time to argue.”

“You said-”

“I know what I said Gohan but this isn’t a game.”

“I want to help!”

“I understand bu-”

 “Huh? What do we have here?”

A new voice Krillin didn’t recognize had him turning to face two creatures he had never seen before. Though their body proportions still had the same look like a human with two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head one of them had blue skin, orange hair and two horns jutting out of his skull. The other had a more reptilian look on his skin was a dark purple color with a fish fin coming out of his head. Both looked completely alien to Krillin.

“Those aren’t namekians!” Bulma shouted hiding behind one of the legs of the ship

 “Hmm, I don’t recognize any of them do you?” The lizard looking alien asked his partner while gripping an arm cannon attached to his left hand.

“Heh heh, …it doesn’t matter who they are Sui…” The blue-skinned alien said with a sneer, “We were given orders to kill anyone who was on this planet!”

“Mr. Krillin,” Gohan whispered, “Their armor looks just like Vegeta’s.”

Both aliens were wearing armor that looked very similar to the one Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz wore on Earth. This included a small scouter covering their left eye.

“You’re right,” Krillin answered quickly.

_They don’t look saiyan to me and they don’t appear to be even close to the same strength as Vegeta. Despite that, I have a bad feeling about all of this._

Slowly the two aliens rose up into the air floating just above Krillin and the others.

_Can’t get Gohan or Bulma involved, if it comes to it I’ll have to take both of them out._

“Well look at that! Their power levels are garbage!” The purple lizard man said dripping with disgust, “Are these guys just tourists?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Banan replied, “We won’t have any fun if they get away. Take out their spaceship first.”

“Sounds like a plan!”

Taking aim at the ship the lizard fired an energy wave from his canon. The blast streaked toward the spacecraft but was smacked away into the nearby stream at the last second which detonated and covered the area in a small shower of water. 

“What?!” The alien lizard shouted shocked his attack had been deflected, “What happened? Banan did you see?”

The alien known as Banan didn’t answer as a quick chop to his neck rendered him unconscious and falling onto Namek’s cold surface.

“Ban-” Sui started only to be interrupted by a hundred volts of electricity running through his body. The discharge was powerful enough to force the fish-like humanoid to pass out and join Banan on the ground.

“Ugh.” Krillin winced his right arm throbbing from the sudden shock.

_Still not completely used to using this technique outside my own head._

“Are they dead?” Gohan asked looking at the two aliens curiously.

“No, they’re just unconscious.” Krillin answered as he landed while flexing his right hand to make sure the pain had passed, “You two should leave now before they wake up.”

“But-”

“Gohan this isn’t a discussion you need to leave before you get hurt.”

“But I’m stronger!!”

“I know, I know Gohan but yo-”

“Bastards!”

The three earthlings turned to see Banan awake still lying on the ground but his outstretched hand aimed at them.

_He’s awake?! I held back too much!_

Krillin’s surprise slowed him so when Banan fired a burst of ki directly at Bulma who was still hiding behind the leg of the ship he wasn’t fast enough to stop it, but Gohan was. The young half-saiyan blurred out of sight for a moment only to reappear in front of the approaching attack. Kicking with full force Gohan smashed the blast upward away from the blue-haired genius, and straight through the namekian ship.

“No!” Krillin shouted as the energy blast carved through the ship cutting a hole from the bottom to the top rendering the craft broken and useless.

“Heh,” Banan laughed, “Now you’re stuck here with us.”

The monk was on him in an instant. A hard stomp onto the alien’s reaching arm crushed it into dust and before Banan could scream Krillin had flipped him onto his back and shoved a hand in his face.

“Why?!” Krillin screamed already gathering ki into his hand, “We didn’t do anything to you! Why attack us?”

“We-we have orders to kill anyone on planet who could get in the way of gathering the dragonballs.” Banan stuttered, “That’s all I know!”

“Who gave the order?”

“Who? Who else? The bloody Emperor, Lord Frieza!”

Krillin flinched the ki he had amassed slowly dying out as his mind instantly recalled the name Banan had shouted out.

_Frieza? The one who both Raditz and Vegeta seemed scared of? That Frieza?_

“Looks like you’ve heard of him,” Banan said with a sneer, “Well let me tell you as soon as Lord Frieza hears you’ve attacked his men he’l-”

Banan stopped as soon as Krillin’s fist crashed into his face, the impact of the punch making a noticeable dent in Namek’s surface.

_He’s not getting back up now._ Krillin thought as he walked back toward Gohan and Bulma who were looking at the damage to the ship, “Bulma can you fix this?”

“No, I don’t have the tools and we don’t have the time,” Bulma said her eyes not leaving the hole in the ship.

“This is not good,” Krillin said slowly, “We’re in bigger trouble then I thought.”

“I’m sorry Mr. Krillin,” Gohan said with a hint of worry in his voice, “I didn’t mean to break the ship I just wanted to help.”

“It’s alright Gohan, you did the right thing,” said Krillin, “But right now we have to find some kind of cover as soon as we can. We’ll need to grab the essentials and move on foot.”

“We’re not going to fly?”

“Flying uses too much energy, they’ll find us with their scouters for sure.”

“I can grab the bags!” Gohan said eager to help in any way.

“Thank you, Gohan.”

Rushing back into the ship via the new hole Gohan quickly started collecting every bag he could carry. Krillin’s gaze returned to the unconscious aliens so he wasn’t ready for Bulma’s question.

“How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“That electricity, did that came out of your hand? Can you just, **generate** electricity now?”

“Oh, it’s something I learned from Master Roshi. Remember that attack he used on Goku during the world tournament?”

“What are you talking about? Roshi never fought Goku in the tournament.”

“Yeah he did, he was Jackie Chun.”

“WHAT?”

“I reacted the same way,” Krillin laughed. “The technique itself is pretty intense though. If I’m not careful I could end up hurting myself more than anyone I use it on.”

Bulma noticed Krillin shift his right shoulder but didn’t comment on it.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Bulma asked.

“If I hadn’t held back too much power the ship wouldn’t have been destroyed. You and Gohan would have been a lot safer.”

“You held back? I just thought that guy was tougher then he looked.”

“No, they aren’t very strong. Even Gohan could have taken them down without much trouble.”

“So why did you hold back?”

“…I was afraid I was going to kill them.”

“Oh.”

“I mean that’s what I’ve been training to do since Vegeta and it was easy enough in my own head, but. When I had the chance, I couldn’t do it. I hesitated and that cost us.”

“You don’t have to worry about that Krillin we’ll figure something out,” Bulma said quietly.

“We’re going to have to start with them,” Krillin said pointing at Banan and Sui. “If they wake up there’s no doubt they’ll come after us.”

“We can’t just leave them?”

“No, not if what the blue one told me is true,” Krillin sighed. “Do you remember the name Frieza?”

“That-that sounds familiar,” Bulma said concentrating.

 “Raditz mentioned it at the Kame House and Vegeta knows the name as well.”

“Oh! Wait…I remember now.” Bulma said her voice starting to shake. “Isn’t that the guy who destroyed the planet Goku came from?”

“Yeah, and apparently he’s here on Namek looking for the dragonballs as well,” Krillin said slowly.

“What?! What are we doing to do?!”

“What we have to.”

Moving silently Krillin walked over to Banan and Sui who had remained still and grabbed them by their legs. Dragging the two aliens over to the small river nearby Krillin watched his reflection bob up and down in the water. Giving himself no time to question himself or dwell on it the monk tossed Banan and Sui into the dark green water. Krillin stood there as he watched his reflection ripple widely from the splash before it gently, quietly, returned to its peaceful state of bobbing up and down. Turning away Krillin didn’t meet Bulma’s wide eyes and walked right up to the namekian ship.

“Gohan! Don’t forget to bring Tien’s bags as well. He’ll need them when he comes back.”

“Okay!” The half-saiyan answered completely oblivious to what happened outside of the ship.

Krillin let out a sigh of relief before looking back to the river. Neither Banan nor Sui had come back up for air.

“Krillin,” Bulma started. “You-”

“Don’t. Just don’t.” Krillin snapped as his eyes not leaving the water, “We need to leave as soon as Gohan’s done but right now, just. Don’t. Please.”

Bulma looked at her friend with sad eyes and even though her mind was racing the blue-haired genius stood beside the monk and said nothing.

* * *

 

“There,” Krillin said pointing to a cave, not just a short walk away. “We’ll be able to lay low in that cave.”

Krillin, Bulma, and Gohan had been hiking silently while lugging the various bags they had packed. During that time Krillin had been trying to sense out Tien’s location but unfortunately, the three-eyed warrior had remained elusive.

 “We’re going to stay here?” Bulma said looking at the shabby cave with an eyebrow raised.

“It’ll have to do for now and it’s only for the six days it’ll take Goku to get here, sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll make this work.”

Bulma walked into the cave already looking around to see if it had the room she needed to set up camp.

_It might be weird around her for a while. More importantly, as soon as Gohan and Bulma are settled I’ll have to double back to Vegeta’s ship. No doubt Tien will be somewhere in the area._

“Mr. Krillin?”

“Yes, Gohan?”

“Do you sense any energy over there?”

Concentrating on the area Gohan was staring at Krillin did sense a wave of energy he did not recognize.

“I do. Who could that be?”

Before he got his answer had a feeling of dread wash over him as a collection of ki signatures started to approach the Earthlings location. Turning to face the oncoming source of energy Krillin feeling of danger grew stronger until every instinct in his body told him to run.

“Get in the cave NOW!”

Gohan and Bulma whirled around to look at the monk and seeing his face twisted in worry obeyed the command with no questions asked. Krillin and Gohan immediately started to stifle their energy levels as low as they could possibly go.

“Do you think they found us already?” Bulma asked her back pressed up against the wall of the cave.

“I don’t know but we have to keep quiet they’re heading right for us.”

Krillin, Bulma, and Gohan all held their breath while waiting for whatever came next.

_They’re here!_

Nine individuals with a wide variety of power levels flew past the small cave opening at such a high velocity that the water below them rippled and the ground itself shook. As soon as they had arrived the group shot off into the distance the howl of the wind leaving with them.

“T-they’re gone,” Bulma said allowing herself to breathe again. “Looks like they haven’t found us yet, but.” Leaning out of the cave Bulma stared in the direction of the group hoping to get another look at them. “None of them really looked like namekians though; I mean based on what Kami and Piccolo look like.”

Noticing the silence from her companions Bulma looked back into the cave. “Guys? You alright?”

Neither Krillin or Gohan were alright as both were struggling to just keep their composure. Krillin was silently shaking and had left an imprint on the cave wall from gripping the stone too hard. Gohan had sweat pouring down his face and was panting as if he had run a thousand miles.

“Bulma,” Krillin said slowly still trying to keep himself together. “Could you check the dragon radar?”

“The radar? What for?”

“When you last checked there were four dragonballs right? I think those guys might have taken them.”

Bulma said nothing and quickly removed the radar from her pocket before turning it on.

*Ch-chik*

T-there’s no doubt about it,” Bulma said looking over the radar carefully. “They had four of the seven dragonballs with them.”

“I…I knew it.” Krillin fists tightened and he swallowed deeply his shaking from earlier still running through his body, “Gohan, did you see him? The weird one, flying second from the front.”

“Y-yeah…I saw.” Gohan said his voice quivering, “I sensed a huge power coming from him.”

“Wait, which one was that?” Bulma asked.

“He was flying in a pod of some sort. He looked short but had two horns coming out of his head kind of a devilish looking face.”

“What about him?”

“As strong as Vegeta was, that guy makes him look like nothing. I think-I think that was Frieza.”

“That was him?!” Bulma shouted.

“I really hope it was because right now I can’t imagine anyone stronger than that.”

“What…what do we do now Mr. Krillin?”

The question caught the monk off guard and for a moment Krillin let his worry and fear get the better of him. And then that moment passed.

“Bulma, where is that group headed?”

“Hold on let me check,” Bulma said looking back at the radar. “Wait, what’s going on? They’re heading right for another dragonball.”

“They might have radar as well, how far is the next dragonball from here?”

“About 14 kilometers that way.”

The blue-haired scientists pointed in the direction that the group led by Frieza was heading as well as where Krillin had sensed that unknown ki source.

_Something tells me if Frieza gets his wish we’re going to be in a lot more trouble than compared to Vegeta. I’ll have to focus on them first before looking for Tien._

“Okay, I’m going to go after them and see what’s going on.”

“I’m coming too!”

Krillin turned toward Gohan who seemed to have shaken off the fear that had gripped him earlier.

“Gohan it’s too dangerous.”

“I know it’s not a game Mr. Krillin but please I want to help.”

“No Gohan I can’t take you with me it’s-”

“Maybe you should Krillin,” Bulma said cutting the monk off midsentence.

“What? Bulma I can’t. You saw those guys right? He could get hurt.”

“He could get hurt just staying here right?” Bulma said with a bit of snap, “I know it’s dangerous but personally I think you’re really going to need all the help you can get.”

“I’m fine Bulma re-”

“No. You’re not.” Bulma said once again cutting him off, “Look, as long as Gohan and I are stuck on this planet waiting for Goku we should help you out. If either Vegeta or this Frieza guy gets the dragonballs and makes their wish I have a feeling that’ll catch up to us sooner or later. So we may as well do everything we can to prevent that.”

Krillin stared at Bulma wide-eyed for a moment.

_…she’s…she’s right. I, do need help._

“…okay.”

Gohan smiled and did a little jump.

“Bulma will you be alright here by yourself?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine I’ve got a capsule home I can set up. It’s you two who need to be careful.”

Krillin nodded once before turning toward Gohan.

“Okay Gohan, we’re going to be keeping our ki low but moving fast do you remember how to do that from your training.”

“Yes, Mr. Krillin!”

“Alright let’s get moving before-”

A large detonation far off in the distance stopped the monk cold as the ground shook and the wind roared like a beast. A dome of energy sizzled and spit as it fully formed in full view from the cave. The ripple effect from the explosion nearly knocked Gohan off of his feet but he was steadied by Krillin who couldn’t help but stare at the detonation of pure ki energy.

_I know that power._

Eventually, the shaking stopped and the dome of ki faded leaving a dull ring and many questions.

“Mr. Krillin isn’t that?”

“It’s Tien,” Krillin said quickly. “He may be in trouble.”

“Then you need to go after him,” Bulma said visibly shaken. 

“I can’t. I need to go after the dragonballs he’s the one who left us.”

“If you leave him he may die.”

“If I don’t stop Frieza from getting the dragonballs we may all die. Tien can take care of himself he’s stronger than me anyway.”

“You think that’s a good enough reason to abandon him?”

“No, I don’t,” Krillin spat. “But I can’t be in two places at once.”

“Can’t you use the multi-form technique?” asked Gohan.

“That’ll split my power in half and I’m ready lacking in strength compared to Vegeta as it is.”

“Well, what if I go by myself?”

Krillin fumbled for words at the young half-saiyans suggestion.

“No Gohan, that’s too risky I don’t really want you coming with me as it is.”

“Mr. Krillin you said you were going to do your best on Namek. But I want to do my best too.”

Again the monk failed the find the words he needed to dissuade Goku’s son from risking his life. Kneeling down so he was eye-level with the young half-saiyan the monk took a good look at Gohan before speaking.

“…it’s going to be dangerous Gohan. Really dangerous.”

“I’m ready.”

“This isn’t going to be like the fight on Earth. I’ll join you as soon as I can but you’ll be going in alone.”

“I understand.”

Krillin paused and looked over Gohan slowly once more.

_Please…don’t let this be a mistake._

“…alright. But you have to promise me something.”

“What?”

“Promise me that’ll you keep out of sight. You’re just going to follow Frieza’s men and see what we are up against. You are not there to fight them, understood?”

“Understood.”

“Promise me Gohan.”

“I promise.”

“Promise what?”

“I promise I won’t fight them.”

“……….okay.”

Before the boy could say another word Krillin grabbed the back of his head and brought it into his forehead and held it there.

“You’re going home Gohan but you have to fight for that. Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Gohan answered firmly.

Krillin stood back up to his full height.

“Keep your ki low and move quickly. Tien and I will find you as soon as we’re done with Vegeta.”

“Hey!”

Krillin and Gohan turned before Bulma squeezed them together in a tight hug.

“Be careful you two.”

Both monk and half-saiyan returned the hug and allowed a soft moment to pass.

 “We should go,” Krillin said pulling away from the hug. “Ready Gohan?”

“Ready!”

Steeling himself with new resolve Krillin turned to look out where the dome of energy last was before giving Gohan and Bulma a hard thumbs up hoping he was hiding his fear well enough. Without another word, Krillin dashed off toward Tien and Vegeta.

_Please…don’t let this be a mistake._


	6. Containing Evil

 

_Alright, I think I sensed Tien around here._

After leaving Bulma and Gohan Krillin was finally approaching the area where he had last sensed Tien’s power. He had been keeping his own strength suppressed at a low enough level that any scouter wouldn’t be able to find him immediately.

_I’m probably safe from any of Frieza’s men but Vegeta did learn how to sense energy. I’ll have to be careful not to give myself away._

Cutting his sprint short Krillin hid behind a solid rock. Peeking around its edge the monk was hoping to get a good look at his surroundings.

_Been so focused on keeping my energy low I haven’t checked if I’m any clo-_

“Die!”

A large blast of energy cut past Krillin’s hiding place barely hitting the monk in the head. The attack continued on before colliding with another rock nearby erasing the giant stone and the surrounding area near it. Retreating back behind the rock Krillin forced his energy to go even lower than before. After a few seconds passed Krillin let out the breath he was holding but continued to suppress his energy.

_I don’t think that was aimed at me which is good, but I don’t recognize that voice._

Peeking again Krillin caught sight of another creature in armor comparable to Vegeta’s. This one had purple skin just like Sui and even held a similar fishy face. Though instead of a fin sticking out of the top of its head this alien had two antennas sticking out of its cheeks identical to a catfish. Instead of horns like Banan, the creature had two holes stretching out from its skull like a vent or the opening of a volcano. Yet it wasn’t the alien’s appearance that gave the monk pause it was the various wounds and cuts it carried as it landed on a patch of ground not far from Krillin’s hiding spot.

 “Damn you!” The alien cried out at his opponent who quickly answered in kind. (change)

“Dodon ray!”

The familiar thin beam of light shot out at the alien who was forced to jump away from the attack. The ray struck the ground where the purple creature was and burst it open with bits of ground and dirt flying in every direction. Seeing this the alien started to flee with a downpour of ki attacks raining down on him each just as devastating as the last.

_That’s Tien!_

Krillin arched his neck and looked for the source of the energy blasts to see Tien hovering in the air shooting out Dodon ray’s in a handgun fashion, one after the other. The destructive force of the energy empowered blasts started to level the surrounding area and shake the small island where the battle was raging. Finally, Tien paused in his onslaught and allowed the battlefield to calm itself. All that remained from the shower of ki were several craters and a dense cloud of dust.

_He’s gotten even stronger._

This was true; the display of power Tien had just unleashed was impressive and far beyond anything Krillin was capable of. Yet this battle between Tien and the alien had been going on for some time and as injured and tired as the strange purple creature Tien was fighting the three-eyed human looked just as hurt. Slowly lowering himself down to the ground Tien couldn’t help but gasp for air, his body almost spent from the fight.

“You little pest!” The alien screamed at Tien as the cloud of dust dissipated revealing that a few of Tien’s rays had hit their mark as fresh blood oozed out, “I’ll kill you for that!”

“Having a little trouble Cui?”

Krillin’s eyes went wide and he couldn’t stop a shudder lick his spine as he watched Vegeta the prince of all saiyans land just a few feet from Tien and the now named Cui.

“Vegeta!” Cui spit, “I swear as soon as I kill this nuisance you’re next!”

“Come now Cui, don’t delude yourself,” Vegeta said with a wicked sneer.

“This nuisance is just as strong as you are or do you truly believe you’re winning this fight? But don’t let that slow you down, remember the winner of this fight gets to go up against me.”

“You traitor! As soon as Lord Frieza hears about this he’ll have your head!”

“Frieza’s reign is ending Cui. Once I have the dragonballs it’ll be my turn at the top.”

“You’re both wrong,” Tien said with a voice dripping with hatred. “Neither of you are going to live long enough to see tomorrow.”

“Well said human!” the saiyan prince laughed, “You’ve certainly gotten stronger then you were on Earth. So let’s see you put that power to good use.”

Tien said nothing but spit out a glob of blood and refocused his attention on Cui by sliding into a fighting stance.

“Vegeta, if you think I’m going to die by the hands of this nobody then you’re an even bigger fool then I thought.”

“Heh, then prove me wrong Cui.”

“Gladly!” Cui shouted as he dashed at Tien with a wildfire in his eyes.

Tien crouched down lower in his stance and met Cui head on. Their clash set out a hard shake of the ground and a scattering of dust that forced Krillin to shield his eyes. When he reopened them both Tien and Cui were moving at speeds faster than he could follow. Trying his best to keep up the monk could only catch slight glimpses of his friend and the purple alien battling both on the ground and in the air. From what he could tell neither warrior had the upper hand over the other but Tien despite only having one arm was keeping pace with the twisted space warrior.

They’re so fast. Krillin thought to himself squeezing his hands tight in disappointment in himself. There isn’t much I can do to help; I’d probably just get in Tien’s way. No choice but to wait for an opening.

Both Tien and Cui landed on the ground neither breaking their eye line with the other.

“Tired yet?” Tien asked with a small grin.

“Hardly!” Cui screamed in response.

Again the two fighters charged at each other the conflict scattering both dirt and blood across the battlefield but now something had changed. Tien was dodging most of Cui’s strikes while his own were hitting hard and fast. Cui started to throw punches and kicks widely while Tien’s calm focus kept his attention on every opening Cui gave him. Slowly but surely the three-eyed warrior was winning the fight.

_He’s reading him like a book._ Krillin thought as he looked on in amazement. _That training on the ship didn’t just make him stronger, it made him a better fighter as well._

“You little snake!” Cui belted before shooting a swift blast of energy aimed at Tien’s head.

Wordlessly Tien backhanded the blast sending it flying far off into the distance where it could harm no one. However, using his one hand to defend himself left Tien vulnerable a chance that Cui was quick to take advantage of. Closing the distance between them Cui let loose a wild howl as he struck with a punch infused with all of his power, only to hit air and nothing more.

“What?”

Cui looked around for an explanation as Tien’s afterimage faded from view.

“Too slow.”

The voice behind him had Cui whirling around to face it but Tien had already grasped the purple alien by the throat and lifted him off of his feet. Cui gasped for breath his hands already scratching at Tien’s arm but the three-eyed warrior’s grip remained firm. Changing tactics Cui again aimed his hand at Tien’s head gathering energy for a desperate attempt to escape.

“Solar flare!”

A bright light that singed even Krillin’s eyes covered the field in an instant blinding every onlooker.

_Did he just use a solar flare without his hands?_ Krillin thought quickly rubbing his eyes to regain his sight, _that’s genius._

“Agh!” Cui coughed as eyes burned and he was forced to stop his attack and cover his face.

With the threat of retaliation stopped Tien let go of Cui’s throat giving the alien back some air. Yet threw his leg up above his leg and brought it down like an ax onto Cui’s head. Tien’s heel bit into the top of Cui’s skull and crunched the purple creature into the hard ground of Namek.

“Geh!” Cui sputtered out along with a fistful of blood raising his face out of the dirt Cui started to shout, “You’ll pay for-”

Cui stopped short as he caught sight of Tien’s hand that had already formed half of a triangle and was quickly gathering the energy needed to vaporize his opponent.

“Wa…wait!” Cui cried, “Don’t kill me! I surrender! You win!”

Tien visibly flinched but continued generating ki wordlessly. Now panicking Cui looked over to the saiyan prince.

“Vegeta you can’t let him do this! Save me and we can work together to take down Frieza!” Cui pleaded growing desperate, “J-just think about it! If we teamed up, with our power, we could even handle Zarbon and Dodoria!”

_Don’t think I’ve heard those names before, probably more of Frieza’s men._ Krillin thought to himself, _but are you really going to kill him, Tien?_

Vegeta laughed loudly before responding to Cui’s groveling.

“Already begging for your life Cui? I always knew you were a pathetic and sickening bastard but I didn’t realize you were a liar as well.”

“It’s no lie, I tell you! You have to believe me Vege-”

Cui stopped as his eyes went wide and he looked at the space directly behind Vegeta.

“Ah! Lord Frieza!”

“What?!” Vegeta yelled as he turned completely around even Krillin diverted his attention away from Cui.

“You fool!” The purple alien screamed firing a blast at Tien, only to be stunned silent as the three-eyed warrior sidestepped the attack letting it fly off into the distance but keeping his hand trained squarely on Cui.

“…you…you didn’t look.” Cui sputtered.

“No,” Tien said slowly. “Compared to someone else I know. You’re a poor liar.”

Without another word, Tien fired the dense blast of energy he had collected bathing Cui in ki and erased him completely. The only remains left behind were a smoldering crater in the shape of a perfect square.

_No!_ Krillin screamed to no one but himself. _It’s not worth it Tien!_

With the alien gone exhaustion gripped Tien as he began to pant for air and energy.

“Bravo!” Vegeta said with a soft and slow clap, “Seems the Earthling still has some fight in him. I was afraid Nappa ripped it out of you when he took your arm.”

“Don’t get too cocky,” Tien said with a glare. “You’re next.”

Vegeta grinned, “That’s the spirit.”

Slowly walking toward his next opponent Vegeta continued to speak. “I must say as entertaining as your fight with Cui was I am a little disappointed.”

“Why? Not brutal enough for you?”

“On the contrary,” Vegeta laughed “I’m curious if you’ve got a little saiyan in you.”

Tien’s glare grew harder.

“No, I’m disappointed because for quite a while I was evenly matched with Cui. Our power levels were very close together and neither of us could get the upper hand on the other. That is until I went to Earth.”

“Where you lost.”

“In no small part to your dear leader,” Vegeta spat. “Where is he by the way? I’m **eager** to see him again.”

“Doesn’t matter, you’re dealing with me.”

“Fair enough, as I was saying. Cui and I were rivals in a sense and I’m disappointed I won’t be able to see the look on his face when I showed him the newest trick I learned from you humans.”

“Trick?” Tien asked.

“Yes, I gained the ability to sense energy but also…” Vegeta gripped his hands into a pair of tight fists and a large vein pulsed across his forehead, “how to control my power level.”

With an inhuman scream, the saiyan prince let out a great pulse of energy that had the planet almost vibrating from the amount of power he was exerting.

_This is way more intense than the power he was putting out on Earth even against Goku! This can’t be real!_ The rock Krillin was hiding behind began to crumble slightly and the monk was afraid his hiding spot was going to collapse right in front of him. However, as quickly as the surge of power came it vanished and Krillin again spied on the fight happening only a few feet from him.

The confidence Tien had worn throughout the flight to Namek was fading fast and the three-eyed warrior nearly took a step backward before catching himself. Adapting a lethal stance Tien grit his teeth as a single thin bead of sweat trailed down his face.

“Ready?” Vegeta sneered.

With a strong howl, Tien shot himself at the prince with a swift punch prepared. Vegeta blocked the strike easily and countered with a dangerous kick that Tien barely avoided. Leaping back Tien stunk lower in his stance the bead of sweat on his face was joined by several more.

“Very good!” Vegeta said with a wild smile, “I have a feeling Cui would have turned tail after feeling my power, but not you! You’re a warrior!”

Tien grunted and started to shake in fear Vegeta’s overwhelming power consuming his thought process.

“And warriors die on their feet.”

The saiyan prince charged at a speed greater than any he showed on Earth. Completely unprepared Tien’s guard was easily slipped through and broken apart in an instant. Without time to recover Tien was punished with a savage kick that cracked against his solar plexus like a bat to wood.

“Ugh!” Tien spit out as he was flung backward only to be stopped by colliding with a nearby boulder.

Recovering as quickly as he could Tien watched Vegeta jab two fingers in his direction. Recognizing this attack the three-eyed warrior leaped away from the rock as it exploded behind him just from the power of Vegeta’s gesture.

“You’re quick on your feet too! No doubt that would have killed Cui instantly perhaps I did get lucky after all.”

“Solar flare!” Tien shouted opting to attack the saiyan instead of responding to his insults.

The familiar explosion of light burst out of human draping the area.

“It’s a good technique, but you humans depend on it too much.”

Pain enveloped Tien as a sickening blow from Vegeta connected with his stomach forcing him to spew a fistful of blood. Falling to his knees shaking just from the force of the punch Tien could even respond to the attack. Looking up Tien saw that the prince had his eyes closed helping him avoid the solar flare attack.

“It’s easy to see it coming,” said Vegeta his eyes still closed before delivering a swift kick to Tien’s head.

Skidding on his side Tien tried to find his feet only to have his strength fail him when he needed it most.

“Still alive? Seems you’re using your energy as an armor just like that little runt you call a leader. Are you sure he’s not coming? He would provide a better challenge.”

Tien grunted and slowly stood up while rising his remaining arm before taking aim at the saiyan.

“Tri-”

Wordlessly Vegeta closed the gap between him and the three-eyed human. Smacking the human’s hand away Vegeta’s fist dove into Tien’s stomach. Again bringing the mighty warrior to his knees.

“Disappointing, but not surprising. I applaud your growth and if left unchecked perhaps you would eventually provide a decent fight but I cannot have you stand in my way now. Not when I’m so close.”

Tien struggled to stand his entire body shaking from the force of the punch.

“Take solace human. Your bones will lay the foundation for the new saiyan empire. Once Frieza is dead and buried I shall bring the entire universe to heel where only the strong will survive.”

Vegeta cackled his voice and eyes crazed with desire. “And I shall rule as the strongest of them all! Me! Vegeta! The prince of al-”

“Solar flare!”

With no warning or time to prepare Vegeta was caught off guard as a blast of light from his side flashed across his face blinding him temporarily.

“Ugh!”

Gripping his eyes in pain Vegeta barely heard a small buzzing sound get closer and closer to his head. Recognizing the sound instantly Vegeta ducked and felt a disc of energy scrape against the tip of his hair, as soon as he felt the danger pass Vegeta stood back up to his full height and opened his eyes slowly.

“Ah. There you are.”

Standing in front of the collapsed Tien stood Krillin.

“You almost got me with that one human.” Vegeta laughed. “But, you’re repeating yourself. You tried going for my head last time too.”

Krillin said nothing but grit his teeth and clenched his fists.

“What are you doing here?” Tien said his voice coming out in gasps. “This is my fight!”

“I don’t care. Your life is more important than your pride and I won’t let you throw it away.”

“It’s my choice! It doesn’t matter what you and Launch think all that matters is that he dies!”

“You’re right.”

Tien’s argument died as Krillin turned his head to look at him.

“He should. Goku wanted me to spare him and give him a second chance at life like he did Piccolo. But if he’s here just to use the dragonballs for his own personal gain and cause others pain then he doesn’t deserve any mercy and needs to be put in the ground. However, that doesn’t mean you have to join him.”

Looking back at Vegeta Krillin summoned all of his power to their peak and readied himself for the coming fight.

“You can’t die now, Tien. Didn’t you tell me that one day you’d be stronger then Goku?”

Unsure of how to respond Tien said nothing but was finally able to stand back up.

“How touching,” Vegeta sneered. “You both seem to be under the illusion that you stand a chance against me. It seems that I’ll have to-”

Vegeta paused and looked closer at Krillin.

“You…you’re weak.”

The prince’s face wore a dim look of shock before breaking into a wild grin.

“You’re weak! I can sense it! You’ve barely gotten any stronger at all! I thought you’d at least be stronger than your rabid friend but no!” Vegeta said with a hard laugh. “I guess not everyone is fortunate enough to be born a saiyan.”

“What do you mean?” asked Krillin.

“Hmph, seeing as how you’ll be dead soon I may as well tell you how. You see as a saiyan if we are pushed to the point of near death but survive our bodies naturally adapt and grow stronger from the experience.”

Krillin’s eyes went wide. “You don’t mean-”

“Oh but I do little man,” Vegeta said smoothly cutting the monk off. “Your failure to kill me on Earth has only made me stronger. I hope you remember that while I peel your skin off.”

Krillin flinched but stood his ground though he was unable to stop his hands from shaking.

“I don’t suppose you have a plan.” He asked Tien.

“….I do, but you’ll have to keep him occupied while I get ready.”

“How long do you need?”

“30 seconds.”

“I think I can get you 15.”

“That’s more then I hoped for,” Tien said with a soft smirk.

“Shut up.”

Tien paused before placing a hand on the monk’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Krillin.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I’m bringing you back to Bulma after this and she might have a few choice words for you.”

“…Fair enough.”

“Okay,” Krillin said preparing himself. “30 seconds.”

Flying at the saiyan prince with all of his power at his call the monk engaged Vegeta. Throwing out a punch and a kick that was easily dodged and parried Krillin already knew he was fighting a losing battle.

“Oh? Trying to fight me by yourself, little man? How cute,” Vegeta said before landing a devastating punch that ripped into the monk’s stomach tearing through the ki armor and forcing blood out of Krillin’s mouth staining his chin.

“But this isn’t Earth and you won’t be getting up again.”

Krillin’s vision blurred but he forced himself back into the fight and gripped Vegeta’s arm with both hands. Converting all of his energy into electricity Krillin ran a current of ki directly into the saiyan’s arm numbing the limb almost instantly.

“What?” Vegeta said feeling his hand die and slump down toward the ground. “What is this?!”

Instead of answering Krillin brought two fingers to his forehead and charged a special beam cannon until it burned against his skull. Pointing his fingers at the prince’s heart the monk fired only to hit air as Vegeta narrowly dodged. Leaping at the saiyan Krillin shot a kick right at Vegeta’s head which was blocked by the prince’s remaining arm. Unfortunately, the monk had a thousand volts of electricity in his foot that snapped onto the saiyan prince’s other arm rending it useless.

“How are you-”

Vegeta was cut off by Krillin’s head cracking into his own stunning him momentarily. The monk took this moment to throw two destructo discs aimed at the prince’s arms still caked in electricity.

“Enough!” Vegeta screamed bringing his power up and out in a great flare of energy.

The show of strength was powerful enough to disintegrate the discs of ki and to shake off the static coating the prince’s limbs. The ground shook as Vegeta’s patience died and his focus fixed itself onto Krillin.

_I think it’s been at least 10 seconds._

An aura of power surrounded the saiyan as he slowly walked toward the monk. Every step the prince took bits of Namek were crushed underneath his boots. His anger bringing out more and more energy as the entire battlefield shook as if out of fear. With a howl that had the monk shaking as well, Vegeta descended onto Krillin.

_Just 20 more to go._

A vicious punch connected with Krillin’s face shattering his barrier and launching across the green field. His flight was stopped when his back crashed into a mountain. Regaining his focus Krillin saw Vegeta rushing at him his fury controlling every action he made. Despite the pain, Krillin jumped out of the way to avoid Vegeta’s charge as he tore the mountain and the one behind it in two. Believing he had a second to catch his breath Krillin was unprepared for the saiyan prince’s follow up. Appearing in front of him with speed Krillin couldn’t follow Vegeta let loose three punches. Two found their place in the monk’s rips easily cracking them. The third and hardest smashed against Krillin’s temple which robbed his legs and body of his control. Stumbling and falling to one knee the monk lost consciousness for a moment but reclaimed it just in time to see a kick snapping at his jaw. Bracing himself Krillin took the blow head on and remained still despite the power behind it and his own weakened state. Gripping the leg with both hands Krillin again prepared to discharge all of the electricity he had in his body onto the limb.

“Not this time!” Vegeta shouted retracting his leg and firing a powerful burst of energy point blank at the monk.

Throwing up his arms and a barrier to protect himself did little against the blast of ki as Krillin was blown completely off of his feet. Finding himself and taking off into the sky before he could crash into anything else the monk shot upward hoping to create some distance between him and the crazed prince.

_16…17…18…_ The monk thought to himself until he heard a scream erupt behind him.

Spinning around to see Vegeta again Krillin didn’t have any time to respond before the saiyan closed the gap between them. Again throwing up his heads in defense wasn’t enough to block a devastating overhead smash from the saiyan prince. The attack had enough strength behind it to send Krillin crashing onto the ground splitting into Namek and creating a small man-made crater.

Slowly picking himself back up and dusting himself off Krillin breathed in and out trying to mentally prepare himself for the next encounter.

“You’re certainly tougher than last time. Looks like you’ve at least learned how to take a punch.”

The monk’s gaze snapped upward toward Vegeta who landed back on Namek’s ground.

His anger hadn’t diminished but Krillin could see that his ability to not die immediately had at least piqued the saiyan prince’s interest.

_Well imagining all the different ways you could kill me for a month helped._

“I may not be as strong as Tien right now but I’ve done some training of my own.”

“Clearly,” Vegeta said slowly with hate in his voice.

“It also helps that you’re only the second strongest person I’ve seen today.”

“Oh?” Vegeta said with a vein bulging across his forehead. “What do you mean by that human?”

“I saw him, I saw Frieza.”

 “And? Once I’ve finished with you Frieza’s next. As long as I find the dragonballs before him I’ll be unstoppable.”

“Did you know he already has four of them?”

The saiyan prince recoiled for a moment before his anger remerged.

“How do you know that?”

“Sorry, that’s something I’ll take to my grave. That is if you actually do manage to kill me.”

_25…26…27…_

“Humph, quite the bluff little human but I know you aren’t telling the truth. If Frieza does already have all four dragonballs why hasn’t he summoned the dragon?”

“Because he only has four, he needs all seven.”

“Seven?!” Vegeta screamed his rage getting the better of him. “On Earth, you said you only needed four!”

“Yeah sorry about that,” Krillin laughed while scratching the back of his head. “I lied.”

_30!_

“Hey, Vegeta!”

Both the monk and the prince turned to see Tien in a hard stance encased in bright white light. His left hand was clenched tightly by his side as his power surged no longer concerned about hiding his presence from the saiyan warrior.

“You lose!”

Krillin smiled for a moment glad to see his friend ready to deliver what he assumed was the final blow. Until he saw sitting next to him was a rice cooker with a small charm attached to the front of it.

_Wait that’s…it can’t be!_

“Tien stop!” Krillin shouted hoping his cry would have some effect.

“EVIL CONTAINMENT WAVE!”

Tien’s roar was followed by a vortex of green wind exploding out from the three-eyed warrior. The onslaught of wind forced Vegeta to hesitate for a moment but he wasn’t fast enough to dodge. The tornado of green smashed into the saiyan prince who was caught in the current almost immediately.

“Wha…what is this?!” The saiyan prince screamed, yet no one could hear him over the howl of the wind.

Tien’s hands trembled as he struggled to hold the vortex together. Vegeta was sent tumbling around and around the cyclone trying to use all of his strength to break free. Tien could feel his body tearing itself apart just trying to keep the twister under control forcing it toward the rice cooker. The typhoon groaned as Tien pumped more and more energy into it forcing the saiyan prince to submit.

“Tien stop!” Krillin screamed his voice nearly drowned out by a gust of energy.

Ducking under the vortex to avoid getting caught up in it himself the monk was able to make eye contact with his three-eyed friend. Despite the strain of using this powerful technique and damage, it was doing to his body Tien couldn’t help a soft smile drag across his face.

“I’m sorry Krillin,” He said slowly. “Looks like you’ll have to do the rest without me.”

“We can find another way, Tien! You don’t have to do this!”

“No! He has to be stopped no matter what. Besides this way I’ll be with Chiaotzu again, I’m sure he’s lonely without me. Just be sure to close the rice cooker when I’m done and the charm has to stay on at all times. As long as you do that he’ll be trapped forever.”

The tornado of ki crackled as the prince of all saiyans circled to its center howling with fury the entire time.

“Tien please!”

“I’m sorry I was so angry with you after the fight. I’m sorry for everything.”

“Stop it!”

“If things don’t work out with the dragonballs apologize to Launch for me.”

“STOP IT!”

“Tell her not to be too sad that I’m gone. She’s prettiest when she’s laughing.”

“TIEN!”

Lifting his hand above his head with a final scream that shook Namek, the three-eyed warrior brought down his hand down, toward the rice cooker.

“No! NNNNNOOOOOOO!” The saiyan prince screeched before jetting toward the rice cooker his body turning into a beam of pure light. The cooking appliance absorbed the beam as if it were the rice it was designed to cook. As soon as the last bit of light had been encased by the cooker Krillin immediately jumped onto the top forcing it closed. With a satisfying click the rice cooker snapped shut and as the light inside slowly faded, the monk knew. The fight was over.

_Tien!_

Rushing to his friend’s side only to find him face down in the dirt Krillin flipped him onto his back and put his ear to his heart.

_Dammit! His heart’s stopped._

Placing his hands on his friend’s chest Krillin started to pump all of the energy he could into Tien. Knowing he only had a few minutes before his fellow human was effectively dead the monk frantically added more and more energy as time went on. Leaning in and searching for a heartbeat Krillin gasped in joy when he found one.

_It’s working! I can hear it! Wait no this is too fast his heart’s beating too quickly. I must have used too much energy his body can’t keep up. At this rate, he’ll die. If only I had some way to reset his heart-_

With wide eyes, Krillin looked at his hands and again placed them onto Tien’s chest. Gathering pure electricity into his palms Krillin discharged a jolt of energy using his hands as a makeshift defibrillator.

“You’re a moron you know that right?” Krillin said to his friend firing another charge.

“You could have told me that was your plan. We could have come up with something else.”

Another jolt pushed itself into Tien’s body.

“But you do this instead. You’re just running away from your problems you know that right?”

Again Krillin sent hundreds of volts of electricity throughout his friend.

“You can’t do this to me, Tien,” Krillin said his voice shaking a little.

Once more Krillin forced his ki-electricity directly at the three-eyed warrior’s heart.

“I can’t do this by myself.”

One final time using the rest of his strength Krillin attacked Tien’s vitals with everything he had.

“Please. Don’t leave me.”

Removing his hands Krillin leaned into his friend’s chest searching for his heart.

**Thump**.... **thump** … **thump** …

_Normal…it sounds normal._

Putting his hand near Tien’s mouth the monk could feel a series of shallow breaths coming out slowly.

_He’s alive._

Leaning back Krillin let out a nervous laugh before wiping his eyes removing the light tears that had stained his face.

_He’s alive._

Slowly standing up Krillin walked back over to the rice cooker the small charm it had on the front remained unmoved.

_He must have had this plan in his head all along, probably too angry to share it with me._

Pushing a button on the cooker’s side returned the cooking appliance into a small capsule that Krillin quickly pocketed.

_I guess that means Vegeta’s out of the way for the time being which is good. Seems the only other obstacle is Frieza and whatever men he’s brought. As long as we can get our hands on one dragonball we can hold out here until Goku arrives. Don’t know if Goku will be strong enough to fight Frieza but what other choice do we have? All we can do is hold out and work together. That’s the only way we survive._

Making his way back to Tien the monk hoisted the heavy fighter up over his shoulder and started flying back in the direction of the cave he had left Gohan and Bulma.

“You think Launch is pretty?” Krillin said to his unconscious friend. “Tell her yourself, idiot.”

* * *

 

“Krillin what happened?!”

Slowly floating back onto the ground right outside of the cave the monk had to catch his breath before answer Bulma’s question. He had been carrying Tien for the entire trip.

“He’s fine, he nearly killed himself but we were able to subdue Vegeta.”

“You were? How?”

“I’ll tell you in a second; do we have somewhere to put him for now?”

“Y-yeah right over here.”

Bulma hurried the two martial artists into the cave and led them deeper into the cave. There she had set up a small capsule home that just barely fit and was hidden enough that you couldn’t see it from the outside.

“Careful now don’t drop him,” Bulma said opening the door and showing Krillin where the bed was located.

“I’m trying, he’s heavier then he looks.”

Placing the three-eyed warrior on the bed Krillin was finally free to relax for a moment.

“Is he alright?”

“For now, he’ll need plenty of rest,” Krillin said wiping the sweat off of his brow. “It was close though he used the evil containment wave. If I wasn’t there he would have died.”

“The evil containment wave? Isn’t that what Kami used on Piccolo during the World Tournament?”

“Yeah but if you aren’t careful it’ll use up all your energy and kill you instantly,” Krillin pulled out the small capsule that held Vegeta’s rice cooker. “Vegeta’s in here for now which is good but if I was even a little weaker I don’t think I’d have been able to save him.”

“Well, I’m glad you did even if he has been a massive **jerk** for the past month,” Bulma screeched glaring at Tien.

“He did apologize at the end but we’ll chew him out when he gets up,” Krillin said putting the capsule back in his pocket.

“Oh, by the way, I got in contact with my dad.” Bulma said excitedly, “He said that Goku is on his way!”

“That’s great! Is it still going to take him six days?”

“Yeah, but my father found a way to alter the gravity in the ship so Goku can train and get stronger while he travels!”

“Good, we could really use all the power we can get. Even with Vegeta neutralized we still have Frieza to content with. Is Gohan back yet? He’ll be happy to hear that Goku will be here.”

“No, you should go after him as soon as you can it’s been too long. I’m getting worried.”

“Right let me just-”

Krillin stopped midway and jerked his head toward the exit of the cave.

“Wait, that’s him now.”

Both Bulma and Krillin ran outside to see Gohan shooting toward them. As soon as he hit the ground the half-saiyan ran straight into the monk nearly knocking him over.

“Whoa! Gohan what’s going on?”

Krillin didn’t get an answer but instead a huge sniffle and the soft sounds of crying. Now alarmed Krillin grabbed Gohan and held him outward to get a better look. From what he could tell Gohan was unharmed but the redness of his eyes and the light tear stains down his cheek told the monk the young boy had been crying for a while.

“Gohan what happened?”

Unable to form the words immediately Gohan tried wiping his eyes to help get his emotions under control.

“They…they killed everyone.”

“What do you mean Gohan who?”

“That horned guy. He…he and some other guys. A fat pink one. And one with green hair,” Gohan chocked out still struggling not to cry, “They wanted the dragonball…but the village elder who looked like Piccolo wouldn’t give it to them. Some other namekians came and they destroyed all the scouters but the fat pink one…killed them all.”

Gohan started to wail and Krillin hugged the boy closely hoping this would help even a little.

“It’s okay Gohan. It’s okay.”

“There…there were two little namekians. The fat pink one killed one of them and I got really angry. I wanted to kill him. But you told me not to fight…so I didn’t. But then, then he killed the other little namekian and I flew away.”

“Wait, you flew?” Krillin said releasing Gohan from the hug, “Gohan were you followed?”

“I…I.”

“Gohan please you have to tell me, were you followed?!”

Before the half-saiyan could answer a huge crash shook the ground just a few feet from where Krillin, Bulma, and Gohan were standing. Dust scattered and covered the earthlings causing them to close their eyes and cough.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

A voice that Krillin did not recognize glazed the landscape followed by a wave of power that had him shuddering. Putting himself in front of Gohan Krillin got into a hard fighting stance and watched the dust cloud dissipate. There standing tall was a huge fat pink monstrosity. Donned with several sharp spikes jetting out of the top of his it’s head and sharp ears like daggers and Coated in battle armor like Cui’s Krillin could instantly tell this mystery creature was part of Frieza’s army.

“I was following the little one but it seems like we’ve got a group of spies digging around where they aren’t supposed too.”

Krillin could also tell this fat blob was the one Gohan had mentioned and sensing its power knew that everyone’s lives were in terrible danger.

“Unfortunately for you Lord Frieza hates spies and has ordered me to take care of any I find as I see fit.”

Krillin could feel his pulse quicken and several drops of sweat run down his face.

“Although, I’m afraid to say that the only person in the universe who hates spies more than Lord Frieza is **me**.”

Krillin tried to keep his composure and gather his power preparing for the fight ahead.

“The name’s Dodoria. Are you ready to die?”


	7. Monsters

**Author’s Note: Hi everyone! I hope you are all well and staying warm. This chapter is the latest one yet and fair warning it's really heavy on the action. This chapter, unfortunately, brings an end to my consistent stream of updates but this doesn't mean I'm dropping the story. Far from it, I've been going at a month by month pace on Fanfiction and so now that you guys are all caught up you'll be getting the newest chapter at the same time. Which is good for you and better for me as hopefully, I'll be able to rely on new opinions and critiques moving forward. This is an important passion project of mine and I'd like to be at my best for the crazier conflicts in the future.**

**Thank you all so much for the kudos and comments I've already gotten through this long catch-up session. You guys have been very kind and I'm looking forward to sharing more of my writing on this site.**

**That's all, for now, I hope you all have a wonderful day!**

* * *

 

 _Dodoria? Cui mentioned that name while he was fighting Tien._ Krillin thought to himself trying to stop his own shaking and shield Gohan. _What was the other name? Zar something? Maybe that’s the green haired one that Gohan was talking about._

“So, who’s first? The small one? The bald one? Or the girl?” Dodoria said with a quick lick of his lips, “Or should I have you all at once?”

_Can’t think about this now, I have to protect the others._

“Gohan, as soon as I move get Bulma, Tien, and leave,” Krillin whispered slowly.

“What? No Mr. Krillin I-”

“This is not a discussion Gohan. You need to keep everyone safe. Can I trust you?”

“…okay.”

“Good, ready?”

Gohan paused and gripped the back of Krillin’s gi. The monk could feel the half-saiyan shudder before stilling.

“Yes.”

Krillin nodded.

“Solar flare!”

Light exploded out from the monk blinding Dodoria instantly.

“Agh! What is this?!”

Shooting forward like a canon with both arms stretched out in front Krillin collided with Dodoria’s stomach and **pushed**.

“Ugh!” The pink monster groaned before taking off with Krillin still propelling him away from his friends.

_Gotta get some distance first can’t risk having him dodge a destructo disc like Vegeta._

Flying off to the next island with water skating under them Dodoria regained his senses and his anger emerged.

“Get off of me you dwarf!”

Hearing the insult had Krillin stop dead launching Dodoria into the ground cutting into the green dirt of Namek. Wasting no time the monk followed up with two destructo discs looking to cut off the alien’s head or at least an arm. Sitting up the pink monster saw the ki attacks darting toward him. Opening his mouth wide Dodoria roared and a wall of energy poured out of him liked a burst dam.

_Move!_

Erasing the two discs and nearly taking his left foot the beam of ki shot off into the distance scattering some nearby clouds before taking off into orbit.

 _If that had hit me I’d be dead._ Krillin thought as he stared at the dwindling light of the blast, _this isn’t going to be easy._

Dropping down onto the ground Krillin squared off with Dodoria.

_I’m sensing that he’s weaker than Vegeta but still stronger than me or Tien. So…I’d call this an extreme situation._

Reaching into his pocket and being very careful not to bring out the capsule containing Vegeta Krillin held the small device given to him by his master.

_Apparently, this capsule contains a more powerful item then the Last Resort technique._

 “You little runt!” The fat alien said still wiping his eyes, “You’ll pay for that!”

Hoping he still had some time before Dodoria retaliated Krillin pushed the top of the capsule and threw it to the ground letting it explode out in a puff of smoke.

_I don’t know what Master Roshi’s greatest treasure is but if it can help me in any way now is the time to use-_

Krillin stopped cold as he watched the smoke dissipate and reveal the contents of the capsule.

_…you have to be kidding me._

There stacked neatly and with great care lay three rows of premium girly magazines each more risqué than the last.

“What is that?” Dodoria said looking at the stacks unsure of their function.

Krillin had no answer as he replayed the note from his master in his head, word for word.

**P.P.S. I have left you an even greater treasure in the second capsule only to be used in extreme situations it’s going to be a long trip and you will need it more than I. Good luck my student and be safe.**

_Porn…he gave me porn._ Krillin thought to himself shaking in disbelief,

**It’s going to be a long trip and you will need it more than I.**

_He gave me porn…to use on the ship…_

**An even greater treasure.**

_This…this…is his greatest treasure? THIS?_

The monk stared at the cover of the top magazine which displayed a blond woman scantily clad in underwear leaning over to show her cleavage and winking at him as if in mockery.

 “THAT PERVERTED OLD MAN!” Krillin screamed his emotions getting the better of him.

His roar nearly distracted him long enough for a burst of ki blasts to hit him. Thankfully the monk dodged at the last second escaping harm but losing the pile of magazines to oblivion.

“I don’t know what you’re planning to do with those books but it won’t be enough to hurt me.” Dodoria said with a sneer watching the ruined pages of the treasured playboys float aimlessly across Namek.

_This is really bad._

Krillin took a hard fighting stance his head running a mile a minute.

_I was really counting on that. What else can I do? I could throw Vegeta out and try and make my escape…but Tien nearly killed himself just subduing him and am I really going to let him go again? I could try running away but he’s seen Gohan and Bulma. No doubt he’d just go to Frieza with the information and then we would be hunted down._

Sliding deeper into his stance Krillin wore a nervous smile as his decision came together.

_No way out, no one to help, and no more rice cookers. It’s him or me._

The hole in Nappa’s head and the ripples of Namek’s water flashed through the monk.

_…I can do this._

Steeling himself, his resolve, and bringing his power to his peak Krillin charged with electricity running through his arms.

_I can do this._

As he ran Krillin bent down long to scoop up a patch of dirt as he closed in on Dodoria.

“Looks like you’ve got a death wish!” The pink alien shouted before firing another huge burst of energy from his open mouth.

Throwing down one arm toward the ground Krillin fired a small blast of ki launching him up into the air and above the deadly stream of energy. Throwing the dirt at Dodoria’s face bits of Namek covered the fat monster’s eyes blinding him.

“Bastard!”

Having avoided the energy attack Krillin landed right in front of Dodoria. Throwing a precise punch that collided with the alien’s chubby jaw Krillin let loose a jolt of electricity, stunning the mouth.

“Ugh! Whu? whu di y do?” Dodoria slurred trying to regain control over his jaw.

Seeing an opening Krillin dove toward his opponent already charging a destructo disc in his free hand. Whipping his arm forward the disc cut through Dodoria’s armor and deep enough to slice open a bit of flesh off of his chest, but not enough for a kill.

 _Too shallow!_ Krillin thought watching the wound pump blood out into the air.

His disappointment in the attack distracted the monk long enough for Dodoria to smash his forearm into the monk’s side. The obese creature had spikes running out of both of his arms which Krillin felt as it dug into him. Though his barrier stopped the worst of the damage Krillin was still tossed to the ground with a hard crunch. The monk lay there for a moment trying to regain his composure.

“Die!”

Unfortunately, Krillin didn’t have a moment and had to roll away as Dodoria’s boot came crashing down next to him smashing into Namek. Finding his feet Krillin leaped back into the air hoping some distance would help.

“No yo do’t!” Dodoria screamed his mouth only semi-healed as he flew after the earthling, “You arn’t gting awy that eay!”

With his superior speed, the alien was quickly gaining ground and Krillin had limited time to respond.

_No choice but if I overuse this he may get used to it._

“Solar flare!”

Again a burst of light rang out hitting the monster directly in both eyes.

“Agh!!” Dodoria yelled holding his face in his hands.

Driving at the enemy full tilt Krillin cupped one fist into the other and smashed the top of Dodoria’s skull with all of his strength. Watching the alien fall toward the ground Krillin formed and threw a destructo disc pumped with enough power to end this fight if it hit home. Hitting the ground had Dodoria at the bottom of a crater but left him enough time to open his eyes to see the energy disc and fire two full-energy beams out toward Krillin with his hands.

_Damn! I hoped he could only shoot blasts from his mouth!_

Watching his destructo disc collided with the blast Krillin held some hope as his attack looked like it was able to cut through a little. Only to be disappointed again as the energy beams ate through the disc forcing the monk to dodge again.

_This isn’t working. I can’t engage him on a one on one he’ll tear right through me. Even if I hang back he’s got enough energy to spare and can cut through anything I throw at him. I need to get him off balance and strike when there’s an opening but how do I do that by myself?_

Landing back onto the ground Krillin locked eyes with the alien as he crawled out of the crater.

“You punk,” Dodoria said slowly his jaw fully healed, “Looks like you’ve got some tricks don’t you? Guess I shouldn’t be surprised, you corner a rat and they’ll bite back.”

Krillin ignored the insult while trying to think of his next move when something caught his eye. A patch of dirt was still clinging to Dodoria’s chin.

_Ew, that’s gross._

“Hey, you’ve got something on your chin,”

“What?” The pink monster asked clearly confused.

“Dirt, you’ve got some dirt on your chin,” Krillin repeated showing where the alien should wipe on his own face.

Still unsure of what the monk was trying to do Dodoria pawed at his chin trying to clean himself.

“No, not that chin,” Krillin said slowly. “The third one down.”

Dodoria paused in his cleaning before shaking with fury and glaring at Krillin with unhinged hatred.

“What did you just say?”

“…you’ve got dirt on your chin?”

“Are you calling me fat?”

“Uh…yes?”

“…I’LL KILL YOU!” Dodoria bellowed before throwing himself at Krillin head first.

Dodoria’s head horns nearly ripped the human’s shirt as Krillin barely managed to avoid the charge. Despite missing his target the fat alien continued forward until he rammed into a mountain one island over, his rage overriding his base instincts.

_Is…is he sensitive about his weight? That’s weird I wouldn’t expect that from an alien. He also seems quick to anger. He’s got amazing power but not enough focus to wield it properly he’s really predictable as well._

A smile slowly grew on the monk’s face.

_I can use this._

* * *

 

“That pint-sized rat!” Dodoria said to himself as he shrugged off the mountain he had collided with. “When I get my hands on him I’ll tear him in half!”

Flying back to where he had last seen the human Dodoria looked around furiously hoping his prey hadn’t eluded him.

“Don’t tell me he ran off!” The alien shouted his anger only getting more potent, “I’ll have to inform Lord Frieza that there are others on-”

“Hey, tubby!”

Following the voice, with bulging eyes, Dodoria turned to see Krillin standing tall right behind him.

“What did you call me?” Dodoria asked slowly his face a twisted mess of fury and blood-lust.

“I called you tubby, tubby. Can you not hear me with all the fat in your ears?”

Dodoria took a dangerous step forward various veins throbbing across his forehead.

“Just for that, I’m going to rip your heart out while you’re still alive.”

“I bet you’re going to eat it too.” Krillin said with a laugh, “Why does that not surprise me.”

“That’s it!” The pink monster said finally snapping, “You’re dead!”

Unleashing every ounce of power he held Dodoria fired a groundbreaking burst of energy from his outstretched arms. Never letting the grin he wore leave his face the monk allowed the twin beams hit him dead on not even attempting to defend himself in any way. The collision erupted out bathing the area in pieces of Namek and bits of dust. As Dodoria watched the powder clear he was delighted to see that nothing remained. Everything in his warpath had been reduced to rubble and whatever strange creature that had been insulting him he, along with his various tricks had been extinguished.

“Wow, you really did some damage.”

The annoying voice that Dodoria thought had been silenced forever chirped up again directly behind him. Turning completely around the fat alien again locked eyes with Krillin who was happily sitting down on a nearby cliff looking down on the monster as if he were a friend.

“I just killed you!” Dodoria shouted gripping his hands into tight fists.

“Sorry tons of fun, maybe you’re not as strong as you thought.”

Screaming like a wounded animal Dodoria flew at the monk completely mad with rage. Jumping to his feet and flowing into a fighting stance Krillin prepared for battle. Before the alien rammed himself into the human Dodoria vanished from sight faster than Krillin could track him. Unsure of where his opponent went Krillin got his answer as Dodoria’s hand burst out from his chest in one fluid stroke.

“I told you I’d get your heart.”

Dodoria pulled his arm from the hole he made and smirked as he watched the monk’s body futilely continue to pump blood. Krillin gurgled once before falling off of the cliff edge and crashed onto the ground below with a sickening smack. Dodoria laughed and shook the blood off of his hand before turning to leave.

“Ouch, that looked like it hurt.”

Again a voice shook Dodoria hard enough to stop him midflight and turn. There standing off to the side as if nothing had happened was Krillin.

“Pretty gruesome tubby, did you have to go that far?”

“How are you doing this?”

“Well, the genius is in its simplicity.”

Dodoria waited for an answer, but it would never come.

“Aren’t you going to tell me?!”

“Tell you?” Krillin asked wearing another grin, “Why would I do that?”

A spine-chilling bellow ripped out of the pink alien as he again lost his sense to anger and fury. Opening his mouth wide Dodoria again expelled all of his power into a single focused blast that tore across the air disintegrating everything in its way. The bright light of the beam devoured Krillin and wiped him away as it screamed into space. As the light faded Dodoria again saw that his enemy had been completely obliterated.

“H-heh, what…what do you have…to say…about….about that?!” Dodoria said with a heavy pant. His energy starting to dip and his strength was slowly fading along with it.

“Eh, it was alright.”

This time two voices that sounded identical and were spoken at the same time peeped out causing the fat alien to visibly flinch. Seeing something move out of the corner of his eyes Dodoria looked upward to see two Krillins looking down at him both perched on a nearby mountain top.

“I’ll give you points for spirit tubby.”

Taking a fearful step back Dodoria tried to gain his composure but failed. Unable to understand how Krillin had survived death not once but three times Dodoria found himself shaking. Eyes quivering as it took in the sight of the identical monks and still trying to catch his breath Dodoria spoke softly as sweat poured down his chubby cheeks and multiple chins.

“W-who are you?”

The Krillins blinked caught off guard by the question before smiling in synch.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

* * *

 

_Okay…I think five copies…is my limit._

Leaning up against a nearby rock was the original Krillin gasping for air.

_Being killed three times in a row really takes a toll._

The monk thought to himself before hunching over as his body was racked with a wave of coughs. Trying his hardest to keep the sound muffled the monk had to wipe away a small stream of blood that had leaked out of his mouth.

_But I think it worked. Dodoria doesn’t understand what’s going on. He’s confused, scared, and I can sense he’s nearly out of energy._

Peeking out around the rock the monk quickly found the bloated backside of Dodoria. The alien was still staring at the Krillin copies unsure of what he could do against his seemingly immortal enemy.

_I need to end this before he kills the last remaining copies or finds me here. If I can hit him with a destructo disc he doesn’t see coming that should be enough._

Breathing in and out slowly Krillin wiped his mouth one last time making sure his face will clear of blood.

_Okay, let’s go._

Dashing out from the safety of the rock Krillin starting pouring his strength into the biggest destructo disc he could muster. Closing in on the terrified alien completely unseen the monk held the disc above his head ready to go for the kill.

**Three hours**

Nappa’s voice and the soft splash of water burst through Krillin’s head robbing him of his concentration and forcing him to flinch as if he had been shot. The echo of the dead saiyan and the sound of Namek’s water were loud enough that Krillin tripped over his own feet and fell face first into the dirt. Losing control of the disc the ki attack spun forward and made contact, not with Dodoria’s back but his left leg. The disc held enough energy to slice through the limb effortlessly separating the alien from the leg at the knee down before fizzling out.

“MY LEG!” Dodoria howled falling to his side while clutching the bloody wound.

The two Krillins flew past the screaming alien to the original monk who didn’t even have the strength to stand. Merging together gave Krillin enough power to find his feet and yell at himself.

_No.No.No.No.No.No! I had one chance! How? How?!_

Still not ready to fight Krillin watched Dodoria turn around to face him. The wound where his left leg once was continued to produce blood that dripped out staining Namek’s ground. 

“So, it was all just another trick.”

Using his own energy Dodoria floated off of the ground with blood still dripping out where his left leg used to be. Slowly the alien started making his way toward Krillin who held his ground as well as he could.

“Something tells me if I kill you now you’re not coming back.”

Krillin had no response but gritted his teeth and sunk lower into his stance.

_Don’t let him get to you. He’s crippled and low on energy I can still take him._

A shiver crawled through Krillin that spread out like a virus as a dark thought swallowed and encompassed his mind.

_But…I don’t think I can kill him._

Pushing himself forward with his remaining leg Dodoria lunged at the monk. Despite moving slower without his left leg and little energy remaining the pink alien Krillin was too distracted by own thoughts to dodge in time. Dodoria’s spiked forearm slammed into Krillin but with little ki to make a strong enough barrier the monk was impaled against the arm.

“Guh!” Krillin spewed out as a fistful blood jetted out of his mouth.

“I’m going enjoy watching you die!” Dodoria bellowed as he grabbed the monk by the head and yanked him off his arm.

Watching the human dangle in front of him for a moment the pink alien adopted a sadistic grin on his face before driving a full-forced punch right into Krillin’s stomach. Pain erupted throughout Krillin and the monk’s body folded around the giant fist like paper. Krillin had focused all of his energy into his center and just barely stopped Dodoria’s punch from tearing him in half. The monk was launched back and bounced off the green Namek ground once before skidding on his side to a slow stop.

 _Why? Why can’t I do it?_ Krillin thought to himself biting back a scream. _I’ve done it before so why when it really matters why do I fail?!_

Pulling himself back to his feet and feeling dizzy from the blood loss Krillin again prepared himself and took a fighting stance. Watching Dodoria glide toward him Krillin tried to remain calm but noticed a quiver in his hand. Trying to keep himself still made the shaking worse and the human’s eyes opened wide as he realized a simple truth.

_I’m afraid. I’m still afraid. Even after all this time._

The thought distracted the monk long enough that he didn’t notice Dodoria until the fat monster was nearly on top of him. Looking to crush the human with another punch Dodoria brought his all of his weight crashing down only to make contact with the ground as Krillin was able to leap away at the last second wincing as his wounds throbbed from the motion.

_I’m not afraid of dying. This is different._

“Stop scurrying around!” Dodoria shouted already chasing Krillin down.

Covering himself in the strongest barrier he could Krillin still wasn’t prepared for the impact as Dodoria rammed into him headfirst. Again the spikes lining the alien’s skull pierced into the monk and again he cried out in pain.

_I’m afraid of killing. Every time before they weren’t able to defend themselves. It was easy but Dodoria’s awake, he’s here. Despite telling Tien Vegeta deserves to die I’m still hesitating. I’m running away from what I’ve done and I’m afraid of what I’ll do. If I kill too many will I still be the same? Will I still be me? I’m afraid-_

Whipping his head down at the ground Dodoria threw the human off his head and started to generate the rest of his energy into his open palms both aimed directly at Krillin.

“Say goodbye little rat!” The alien howled before firing.

Krillin felt his back make contact with the ground and saw the energy blast shooting at him. Offering up his arms as his only defense the monk was bathed in the deadly attack that produced a tremor-inducing explosion.

_I want to change but…I’m afraid of what I’ll become._

Krillin thought as he felt Namek split and fracture beneath him as it buried him in darkness and dirt.

* * *

 

“There…that’s….that’s the end….”Dodoria spoke slowly as he gasped for air. Using his full power for every blast of energy was finally catching up with him. Falling to his side the alien reached to check the damage of his leg. The stump’s bleeding had slowed considerably but it was still damp to the touch.

_Ugh, Zarbon will never let me live this down._

Gliding over to where his left leg had fallen Dodoria bent down and picked up the limb.

_Maybe I can still get this attached back. The scientists back on the ship have done crazier stuff after all._

Taking a moment to look at the chasm he had created that was covered up with more rocks and ground.

_No way he survived that._

 Taking to the sky Dodoria smiled as he imagined how painful the mysterious creature’s death must have been.

_That’s what you get for calling me fa-_

Dodoria’s thought stopped short as a burst of energy torpedoed up and out of hole causing him to turn around in fear.

_Impossible!_

The rocks that had buried the monk were blown away freeing up space for Krillin to limp out of his prison made of stone. Coated in both blood and sweat with various holes poked through his clothes and body the small human moved forward while gripping his right shoulder in pain. Hunched over and moving slowly but with purpose, Krillin looked up at Dodoria. Despite a cut on his head draping his left eye with a thin stream of blood Krillin’s held a challenge burning in his stare. Dodoria flinched but descended onto the ground gritting his teeth in rage.

“You should have stayed in that hole rat. You might have lived another day.”

“Maybe, but why hide from someone you aren’t scared of?”

“Insolent lowlife!”

Aiming with his free hand Dodoria pushed his energy out of his palm with every intention of killing the human in front of him. Only for his strength to fail and his energy vanish before it could be used. Dodoria’s eyes went wide as a small puff escaped his hand but nothing else.

“You’ve used too much power tubby. At the start of our fight, you had enough power to wipe me out and you did, three times over. Now you’re running low aren’t you?”

Dodoria began shaking with fury as Krillin’s words hit home.

“I have a feeling you’re more used to dominating people instead of actually fighting them,” The monk continued. “You’ve got to be careful with how much energy you use especially in a longer fight.”

A loud snap rang out as Dodoria’s patience finally ended his anger taking full hold of him as he crushed his own leg in his hand.

“Do you know who you are talking too, rat? I AM DODORIA!” The pink alien howled dropping his leg and flaring up what power he had left. “I am a general in the Frieza Force and right-hand man to Lord Frieza **himself**! I have crushed empires and erased civilizations! I have decimated worlds and wiped out entire species single-handedly! I have killed more people then you can possibly imagine! I AM DODORIA! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!”

The monk listened to the alien as he shouted, spit, and screamed. He felt his power wash over him still as dark as before but not nearly as potent. He watched the monster hobble and lean still trying to gain a sense of balance without two legs. Then slowly the monk answered the question.

“My name is Krillin.”

Removing his hand from his right shoulder the monk stood up to his full height.

“I’m a human from the planet Earth. A year ago I was on a beach thinking about how much dinner would cost. Now I’m here on an alien world trying to survive long enough to bring my friends home. So to be honest, I’m in way over my head.” Krillin said with a soft laugh only for it to fade as quickly as it came.

“But…I have killed five people,” The monk continued slowly. “Nappa, Sui, and Banan. I shot Nappa in the head while he was unconscious, I don’t know if he felt anything. I threw Sui and Banan into a lake after I knocked them out about two hours ago; they never came up for any air. And the last two.”

Krillin flinched and shook but continued his gaze never leaving Dodoria’s.

“Were two namekians, Piccolo and Kami. They were my friends.”

“So what? Do you think I care? If you killed them they must have been truly pitiful.” Dodoria said with a snort, “What're five lives compared to millions?”

“You’re right, you can’t compare that,” Krillin answered. “I don’t doubt you’re a monster who kills for pleasure. Our fight has shown me as much. But I want you to know, those five lives have haunted me and I think they are going to haunt me for the rest of my life.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel sorry for you?”

“No, but I thought you’d appreciate that even after our fight you’d be hurting me, once I kill you.”

“Kill me?” Dodoria laughed, “You think you’re going to kill me rat?”

“Believe me I don’t want to, but you aren’t going to stop are you?”

“Stop? No. First I’m going to kill you and show that girl and boy you seem so fond of your corpse. Then I’ll kill them but I’ll do it slowly and really make them feel it, just for you. After that, I’ll help Lord Frieza get the dragonballs and continue our conquest throughout the galaxy. I’ll never stop and no one will ever stop me.”

“I thought you would say something like that,” Krillin said as he slid into a fighting stance. “Then let’s get this over with.”

“You really think you’re going to do it?” Dodoria said with a scoff, “You can barely stand! How are you going to kill me?! The mighty Dodoria?!”

“A cornered rat bites back right? I guess I haven’t been biting hard enough.”

“You make it sound so easy.” The alien said a wicked sneer.

“It’s not. But I’ve got too many people relying on me, I can’t fail here. I won’t fail here.” Krillin said bringing up his power with every word. “Though even if I do, at least I’ve got two legs. Right tubby?”

Dodoria’s grin faded and was replaced with an inhuman roar that tore out of him before throwing himself at the monk propelled by his remaining foot. Looking to drive his fist through the human’s skull Dodoria reared his thick arm back ready to strike, only to be caught off guard when Krillin met his charge head-on. Surprised that the monk matched his ferocity Dodoria couldn’t stop Krillin’s right knee ramming into his nose and cracking it in two.

“Gah!” Dodoria gagged his nose already snorting out blood.

Krillin followed up by driving his leg at Dodoria’s chubby neck but the alien saw it coming and grabbed the limb out of the air. Crushing the limb and feeling the bone snap Dodoria whipped Krillin into the ground and smiled as the human collided against Namek with a hard splat.

“Agh!” Krillin cried out as both his leg and back erupted with pain.

Focusing some energy into his eyes the monk shot two piercing beams that hit Dodoria’s face blinding him just as effectively as a solar flare. The pink monster screamed and released his grip of the monk. Watching his left leg flop down Krillin aimed his right foot at Dodoria’s chest where he had sliced through his armor and flesh earlier. Krillin fired a focused blast of ki through his foot that disintegrated his shoe but hit the alien dead center. The attack shattered addition bits of armor off of Dodoria revealing more pink skin underneath and widening the cut.

Yelling out in more pain the force of the ki blast forced the alien backward and without an additional leg for support fell onto his back. Wasting no time Krillin forced himself back on his feet ignoring his broken leg and jumped into the air directly above Dodoria. Cupping his hands together by his side Krillin focused his power into one point and shouted.

“KA!”

Feeling his ki pool itself into the space between his palms the monk continued.

“ME!”

More and more energy was pumped into his hands and Krillin felt his head swim for a moment but kept his focus on his injured foe.

“HA!”

The cupped energy began to crackle and spit power as the blue shine of his master’s signature attack lit up Namek’s green sky.

“ME!”

Before he could finish Dodoria locked eyes with the human and opened his mouth wide. Digging for power he didn’t know he had the alien vomited a beam of energy upward toward Krillin. Completely vulnerable while charging his attack Krillin offered no defense and was swallowed up by the ray of light. The blast was much weaker compared to the others when Dodoria was at full strength. Yet the monk could feel his body burn and mind shriek as Dodoria’s attack passed through him. Once the blast had passed Krillin started falling out of the sky the ball of ki in his hands dissipating as he plummeted. Landing on his shoulder with a loud crack the monk rolled onto his back barely conscious.  His clothes were nearly gone as well. His shirt had been completely reduced to ash by the blast while his pants were hissing and smoking lightly as if they had been on fire.

“…..ka.” Krillin coughed out and trickle of blood running out from his mouth.

“….me.” he continued his vision blurring and his breathing becoming labored.

 “Still struggling rat?”

Krillin turned his head to see Dodoria standing above him bloating out his view of the sky.

“…ha.”

Without another word, the alien scooped up the monk and held him between his great hands. Pressing inward Dodoria began to crush Krillin. Feeling the crack of Krillin’s shoulders, hearing the pop of his arms, and relishing in the human’s screams brought another smile to the monster’s face.

“You took my leg rat but I’ll grind your insides with your own bones.”

Feeling his body break and bend forced out a pained bellow deep from within the monk.

“ME!”

Confusion wrapped Dodoria’s face as he increased the pressure of the squeeze unsure of what the monk was saying.

“What are you-”

“ **HA**!”

A bright beam of light exploded out of Krillin’s mouth covering Dodoria’s face point blank with deadly ki. Immediately dropping the monk to cover his face that had nearly been scorched off Dodoria had left his chest completely exposed. Seeing the opening that he had created Krillin landed on his still intact right leg and gripped his left hand tightly. The monk felt thankful his fingers hadn’t broken before caking the fist in as much electricity he could produce.

“I WILL KI-”

Dodoria was again interrupted by a deep roar that erupted from the monk. Removing his hands from his face the alien got one last look at the rat before he felt Krillin’s fist lodge itself directly into his chest.  Hunching over the small human Dodoria vomited blood as he felt the entirety of Krillin’s hand moving through his organs. The danger of being killed finally became very real as Dodoria reached to dislodge the monk only to lose control of his own body as a stream of electricity ran through him, stunning the alien completely.

“…I’m sorry.”

Frozen in complete fear as blood continued to run out and down his mouth and chest, Dodoria was forced to listen to Krillin as he spoke softly.

“I won’t say you didn’t have this coming…but… I’m sorry you have to die like this.”

Looking around for an escape of any kind the pink monster’s chin began to tremble and a few tears made their way down his chubby cheeks and multiple chins.

“….please…don't.”

“….........I’ll see you in my nightmares, tubby.”

Opening up his fist while still inside the alien Krillin brought up every ounce of ki he had left and converted it into pure electricity. Giving one last pained scream the monk let the power explode out of his hand into a bolt of lightning. The bolt speared through Dodoria, burst out of the monsters back, ruptured every organ he had, and killed him instantly.

_……that’s six._

With no strength left to stand and the full weight of Dodoria’s body threatening to crush him, Krillin fell to his side the corpse following him down onto the ground. Pulling his left hand out of the alien’s chest the monk saw that most of his arm had been charred black. If it was the after-effect of using his master’s technique too many times or if it was the dark blood of the pink monster he did not know. Looking over his kill Krillin saw that Dodoria had died with his eyes open bulging out in terror. Shaking at the sight the monk tried to move away from the body but found he had no energy to use. Closing his eyes to avoid looking at the corpse was the best Krillin could do but there was no escape from his own thoughts.

_I’ve kept them safe…Bulma, Tien, Gohan. I kept them safe and that’s all that matters. It’ll be easier next time…I’ll get used to it-_

“NO!” Krillin screamed ripping his eyes open and heaving air as best he could.

With nowhere else to look and no power left to turn away, Krillin forced himself to stare at Dodoria meeting the monster’s eyes.

_…If I keep doing this, keep going down this road, will I someday become like you?_

A soft breeze blew over the human, which brought a chill and a small scrap of paper that caught his line of sight. The paper landed right in between Krillin and Dodoria just out of the human’s view.

_What is that?_

Slowly reaching out with two fingers Krillin brought the paper to his head. Only to see that it was a cover of one of the mature magazines his master had so thoughtfully packed for him. While the rest of the porn had been destroyed this cover had survived the attack and it was the same blond woman from before. Still barely covered in underwear far too small her smile and wink had the human chuckling as he held Master Roshi’s greatest treasure.

**This battle has changed you there is no doubt about that; you may never be the same again.**

Krillin thought recalling his master’s words.                                               

**But you have to learn that not being the same is alright. You are still yourself just a different form of you, and that’s okay.**

Still clutching the small piece of paper as if his life depended on it Krillin’s chuckle dwindled to a soft sob. A few tears running down the side of his face mixing with his dried blood.

**Do you know what that makes you?**

_Human._ The monk thought to himself. _Still…human._

His exhaustion finally catching up to him Krillin took one last look at his master’s gift.

_She’s actually pretty cute._

Darkness swirled around him and as his consciousness faded a soft smile ran across the human’s face.

_Always did have a thing…for blonds._


	8. The Power of a Planet

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! Hope you have all been well. I'm glad to be back as I've missed posting my work here but I've returned with the latest update to this series. If the last chapter was a measure of where we are now I feel that this chapter is a good look of what's to come. I'm looking forward to the response. Thank you for reading and as always, please enjoy.**

* * *

…. **please** …. **don't.**

Shooting up as Dodoria's words rang out in his head Krillin caught himself shaking and panting for air. The monk's eyes were wild and unfocused his head spinning while his heart throbbed.

… **please**.

Focusing on his breathing helped the monk gain control of himself as the shaking slowly died out so did the voice in his head.

… _it's okay…it's okay… I'm okay._

Now calm enough to think Krillin took stock of himself and his surroundings. He was surprised that he had the strength to sit up and that for the most part, the wounds he had accumulated through his fight had faded. He was also no longer outside laying next to Dodoria's remains. It seemed he had been moved after he had passed out. He now found himself inside a small white house with very minimal decorations and necessities. He had been placed on a surface that seemed closer to a table than a bed and covered in a long white cloak that had acted as a blanket.

_Whoever saved me is pretty considerate._

Taking another moment the monk scanned himself amazed by his recovery. Despite a slightly sore feeling, he seemed well enough to move around without any pain.

_Too bad I can't say the same about my clothes._

His right shoe had been destroyed by his own power and his left was completely worn out. His shirt had been vaporized by Dodoria leaving his upper body completely bare. With nothing to cover the scar over his right shoulder, Krillin felt a little naked despite his pants and belt surviving the fight. Reaching into his pocket Krillin let out a sigh of relief as he felt the capsule containing Vegeta was undisturbed.

_Not the most presentable but at least I'm alive._

Carefully sliding off of the makeshift bed the monk noticed his left arm. The remnants of numerous electrical burns marked his left limb. Running like snakes up and around his palm Krillin could see that during the final discharge his concentration had waned and a backlash of own ki ignited his arm from the inside out. Whatever had healed him had been quick and potent enough that his arm was still usable but the scars remained. Gripping his left wrist and flexing his hand Krillin got lost in the white splotch of his own faded skin.

_I'm alive._

"Ah."

Hearing a noise Krillin's head shot up toward the entrance to the small house. There he saw a small green namekian looking back at him with a mix of surprise and fright.

"H-hello," Krillin said tentatively. Looks like a mini Piccolo.

"Elder! He's awake!" The small green alien yelled running out of the door back outside. "He's awake! Elder!"

Alone again the monk blinked once unsure if he was in trouble or not.

_They're namekian there's no doubt about that. I guess they're the ones that saved me. King Kai said they were peaceful creatures, hope he's right._

Looking for an easy opening to escape if things went wrong Krillin wasn't ready for the small house to be overrun with more namekians of all different shapes, sizes, and ages. Caught off guard by the sudden increase of aliens the monk took a quick step back his reflexes putting him into a fighting stance. The human's speed set the crowd on edge and three fully-grown namekians pushed their way to the front looking to shield the older and younger.

"Calm yourselves, there is no need for violence."

A powerful voice cut through the tension and the group of namekians opened up to reveal an elder namek holding a staff that was very similar to Kami's. Walking forward through the opening the elder looked at the three namekians at the front.

"Besides I fear there is very little you could do against a warrior of this caliber."

Turning to face Krillin with a smile the elder namekian bowed deeply.

"Welcome to our village stranger we are glad to see you have recovered from your wounds."

The monk blinked before he realized he was being rude and returned the bow.

"T-thank you for saving me."

"I'm assuming you mean us no harm stranger but I feel it would be better for my people if they heard that from you."

"Oh! Yes, I'm sorry," Krillin said bowing again. "I'm still a bit on edge."

"Understandable, you've been through much."

The elder turned and addressed the group. "Please give our guest some room."

Without any argument, the crowd of namekians left a few of the younger aliens still looking at Krillin as they exited the small house.

"The children have been very curious about you," The elder said smoothly. "In fact, you had several visitors while you slept despite my warnings. I thought it best to let you recover at your leisure."

"Thank you," Krillin answered with another bow. "Really I cannot thank you enough."

"Raise your head stranger your thanks alone is enough for us."

The monk obeyed to see that the older namekian had a soft smile on his face.

"I am Tsuno the elder of this village; do you have a name stranger?"

"Krillin."

"Well met Krillin." Tsuno said his smile growing wider, "I'm sure you have many questions for me but for now would you like a proper attire?"

Krillin blinked a little overwhelmed at the kind gesture.

"Yes that would be great, do you have some to spare?"

"In a sense," Tsuno said with a smile before pointing a finger at the monk.

A flash of light jumped from the green finger and encased Krillin in an instant. The flash faded almost as quickly as it was produced leaving Krillin a little stunned only to be shocked when he looked at himself. His gi had been fully repaired with not a rip or tear in sight. He donned a new shirt and shoe while his pants looked like they had been stitched back together by hand.

"Whoa," Was all the monk could say.

"Is it to your liking?" asked Tsuno.

"Yeah! This is amazing! How did you do that?"

"It is a trivial matter for namekians. We simply shape the garments we need in our mind and allow them to be using our energy."

"Shape them? How did you know what my clothes looked like?"

"I saw them, while you fought against that beast known as Dodoria."

Krillin paused and withered. "You saw that?"

"Yes, we are not far from where you collapsed. We sensed your battle but I was uncertain if you were friend or foe. Now that we have met properly I only wish we could have helped sooner."

"It's alright I'm only here because of your help. I don't know how to repay you."

"Let us shelve that for now. Come, you can ask more questions as we walk. I'm sure you're already tired of this small hut."

Tsuno opened the door letting the light of Namek break into the small house. Offering Krillin the first step outside Tsuno waited for the monk to leave the small house. Walking past Tsuno the monk saw that he had been carried and cared for in a small namekian village. The land was surrounded by similar houses he had just exited. Each one of them looking remarkably alike to the namekian ship he had traveled here on. Next to the houses were rows of tilled land with smaller blue-leaved trees growing out of the planted ground. Krillin stared out at the village catching glances of the nameks who lived here. Some returned his stare especially the young but most of them ignored the monk entirely instead focusing on their tasks for the day. From what Krillin could gather most of these tasks seemed to revolve around planting and caring for the small blue-leaved trees he had seen growing around Namek.

"They are called Ajisa trees."

Krillin turned to see Tsuno closing the door behind him before joining the human.

"Ajisa?"

"Yes, we plant them for the sake of our planet, to enhance its beauty. Many were destroyed in the Great Storm. We are simply trying to rebuild what was lost."

"Rebuild? You aren't planting them to eat?"

"Eat Ajisa trees?" Tsuno asked before laughing heartily, "No we only require water from the streams to survive."

"Oh, right."  _I forgot. Piccolo mentioned that he doesn't eat food._

"Come, this way." Tsuno said before walking away from the monk, "Ask the questions you have."

"O-okay," Krillin answered running after the elder namekian to keep pace. "I was wondering, my wounds, how did you heal me?"

"We had several members of the village tending to your injuries throughout the day."

"And they healed them? How? If you don't mind me asking."

"It is an ability that the members of the dragon clan posses."

"Dragon Clan?"

"A group of namekians that specialize in the mystic abilities of our race. They have the power to heal any injury using their energy."

"Just like you did with my clothes?"

"Yes, I myself am a member of the dragon clan. We are different from our warrior brothers who are more adept in terms of pure combat power. They are the three namekians who squared off with you when you awoke."

"I see."

_So I guess Kami would be closer to a member of the dragon clan and Piccolo more of a warrior, right? Wait hold on…_

"Tsuno how long did you say you were healing me?"

"Throughout the day."

"How long have I been here resting?"

"A full day has passed since you arrived at a village."

_A full day! Gohan, Bulma, and Tien could be anywhere by now!_

"Is something wrong Krillin?"

"My friends," the monk answered with a heavy heart. "I lead Dodoria away from them but if it's really been a day since then they probably aren't where I saw them last. I'm so turned around I don't even know where that is anymore."

"Hmmm I see that is a problem, but I may have a solution."

"Really?"

"Yes, but before I answer if it's alright with you Krillin I would like to ask you a question."

"Of course," Krillin said quickly eager to find the others.

"During your battle with Dodoria, he mentioned a creature known as Frieza. Do you know if Frieza is on Namek now?"

"…yes he is. I've seen him."

"Porunga preserve us," Tsuno said his grip on his staff growing tight. "Then Namek itself is in grave danger." Tsuno slowed his walk and looked out at his village with the young and old tending to the trees or playing in the fields. "How will I protect them?"

Krillin watched the elder the old namekian draped with worry and grief as he stared at his village full of life.

… _I should help them._  The monk stopped short as he thought to himself.

"What is it Krillin? Are you well?" Tsuno asked noticing the human had stopped following him.

_What am I thinking? I can barely protect myself much less an entire race of people. But they didn't need to help me but they did. I should help them in kind…but if I do that means going up against that monster Frieza. I'm not strong enough to do that even Goku isn't strong enough to do that. The best thing is to find the others, get the dragonballs, make our wish and leave, but. Their people are being slaughtered. At the very least I should try to trust them._

"You have been kind to me Tsuno, you and your people," said Krillin, "So I think it's only fair I should be honest with you about why I am here."

* * *

"I see," Tsuno said rubbing his head as he absorbed Krillin's long story. "You are here to use our dragonballs to revive your friends."

"Yes, I know it's a lot to ask and even worse now with Frieza and his men here. My friends and I have traveled very far just for the chance of bringing back the people we lost."

"It is indeed a great request. Unfortunately, I am not the one to answer it, but I know who is."

Gesturing to another small house Tsuno lead the way inside who Krillin following close behind. There sitting in the center of the house on a small pillar was the four-star dragonball.

"A dragonball!" Krillin exclaimed as he stared at the orb. The ball was actually much larger compared to the dragonballs on Earth.

"Each village is home to one of the seven orbs. The four-star ball has been here for many years but I fear it must be moved for the safety of all." Tsuno said lifting the dragonball with one hand. "I believe I know a way we can help each other out Krillin. By myself, I cannot give you permission to use the dragonball or help you find your friends those tasks must fall to the one who gave me life, the Grand Elder."

"The Grand Elder? Are they your father or mother?"

"Father? Mother?" Tsuno asked, "I am unfamiliar with those terms. What do they mean?"

"Oh! Uh, I…um don't you need a father and mother to make children?"

"The children of Namek are born from the eggs Grand Elder himself lays. As the sole survivor of the Great Storm, he has worked tirelessly to restore our world to the glory he once knew."

"I…I see." Guess things work differently around here.

"I have an offer for you Krillin. The Grand Elder is under the protection of Namek's greatest warrior I believe that this dragonball would be far safer there. I propose that you should go to the Elder to warn him of the danger plaguing Namek, ask for permission for use of the dragonballs, and help you locate your lost friends."

"You're trusting me with the dragonball?" Krillin asked unable to hide his surprise. "Why?"

"Watching your battle showed us you are a warrior of great will and strength. In these dark times, we will need every possible ally to help defend our home. I hope our kindness has given you reason enough to consider helping us."

"I…it has."

"Thank you. You have shared your story with us and restoring your friends to life is a much better use of the dragon then whatever foul wish Frieza desires. I hope the Grand Elder sees this as well. While I cannot give you the solution you need I feel as if pointing you in the right direction is a start to a firm partnership."

Tsuno handed Krillin the dragonball who carried it with both hands.

"The Grand Elder rests in a house on top of a tall pillar of stone," Tsuno said while pointing out far into the distance. "If you fly quickly in that direction you should reach his home in two hour's time."

"Thank you Tsuno, for everything."

"Think nothing of it Krillin. Though you were not fighting Dodoria for us you have never the less saved many namkian lives. Good luck on your quest and give my regards to the Grand Elder."

"I will."

Krillin turned to leave and started to float upward into the sky prepared to start his long journey to the Grand Elder.

"Ah! Krillin wait!"

The monk stopped mid-flight and returned to the ground as Tsuno reached into a pocket and fished out a familiar piece of paper.

"When we found you, you were holding this paper very tightly forgive me I nearly forgot to return it."

The elder held the torn and burnt page of Master Roshi's precious collection still showcasing the attractive blond woman bending over and winking. Despite the wear and tear her magnetic stare and revealing underwear was still on full display. The monk's face went red and he grabbed the paper with more force then he intended before stuffing it into his pocket.

"I must admit I am a little confused, is this person a member of your race? Do they always wear such flimsy clothing?"

Krillin's blush only got worse as he tried to fumble for an answer.

"Well…yes but normally we don't…wear clothes like that but. It's um."

Tsuno laughed, "It's alright Krillin I didn't mean to pry. If the paper is important to you that is all that needs to be said."

"Heh…yeah. I guess it is important."

"Then I'm happy to have returned it. Safe travels Krillin."

Smiling and a little relieved he didn't have to explain what porn is to an alien Krillin again turned to leave but paused for a moment before looking back at the older namekian.

"Tsuno, I know you're planting Ajisa trees to restore your planet, but from my perspective Namek is already beautiful."

Tsuno was surprised at the compliment but his surprise slowly turned into a wide smile.

"You are very kind."

Krillin nodded and then took off toward the direction of the Grand Elder's home flying as fast as he could.

* * *

_There, that must be it._

Just as Tsuno had said after two hours of nonstop flying Krillin came across a small house perched a tall slender rock with no other sign of life for miles around. Like the many huts of Tsuno's village, this house looked a lot like the space ship Krillin had traveled here on.

_Though is this really the Grand Elder's home? I expected a more lavish palace. He's their parent or something like that right? If it's not maybe I can ask for directions._

The monk landed softly on the rock while still carrying the heavy dragonball.

_It doesn't seem to have been discovered by any of Frieza's men yet. Though with it being so out in the open it's probably only a matter of time before they find it._

Craning his neck out to get a better of the house Krillin started searching for an entrance.

_Should I knock or-_

Before the monk could come to a decision the closest thing he could call a door floated upward revealing an entry point into the home. Emerging from within was a tall powerful namekian who appeared nearly identical to Piccolo. Yet that was where the similarity ended his clothes and the way this namekian carried himself differed greatly from the green demon king back on Earth.

"Welcome traveler," The namekian said slowly the weight of just his voice showcasing his power. "The Grand Elder has been expecting you, come."

With that, the namekian walked back indoors leaving Krillin to follow.

… _he's strong…a lot stronger than the other namekians._

Entering the home Krillin noticed that this house was just as minimalistic as the hut in Tsuno's village.

_I guess on Namek you really don't need that much no matter who you are._

"Above."

The namekian's voice brought Krillin back to the present where the green warrior was already floating upward toward the next level of the house.

"R-right," Krillin said.

The human and namekian traveled up on to the second floor through a giant hole in the ceiling. Landing second Krillin saw that his host was bowing before someone sitting on an imposing throne. On top of that chair rested the one-star dragonball and for a moment that was all Krillin could see until his gaze shifted to the being that sat on the throne.

"Grand Elder, I have brought him." Nail said softly before stepping back.

There sitting in the chair was an ancient namekian older than any Krillin had yet seen. Far bigger in stature and girth compared to Piccolo, Kami, Tsuno, or the namekian who greeted him the Grand Elder sat while wearing thousands of years of age like a warm coat. The toll of that age was great and Krillin could see that the Grand Elder's eyes had long decayed and he doubted the alien had the ability to stand either. Never the less the monk was in complete awe of the namekian. The Grand Elder held a deep presence that nearly swallowed the little monk whole. The years upon years of simply living has produced a being of complete sagacity. One who held a deep understanding and insight into life itself. A wave of pure depth without a bottom overcame Krillin and he found himself bowing in respect completely instinctually.

_He's…he's incredible._

"Raise your head traveler."

The monk obeyed.

"I am the Grand Elder of Namek. Who are you?"

"I-I'm Krillin."

"I see, you are here for the dragonballs the same as Frieza and his men. Correct?"

"Ah…yes. How did you know that?"

"As an outsider, I believe it is the only reason you would visit Namek. Thankfully in approaching us with the intention of talking it is clear you do not hold the same values as Frieza. You may give the dragonball to Nail for the time being."

Krillin turned to see the namekian who had greeted him reach out with open hands. Giving over the dragonball the monk turned back toward the Grand Elder as he continued to speak.

"Thank you. Many of my children have died by the hands of these terrible invaders who seek the dragonballs. I can feel every one of their lives being taken before their time. Yet here I sit, powerless, useless, as my world, as my home, burns."

"I'm…I'm sorry," Krillin said unsure of what as he could do.

"This is a tragedy, but one of our making. We were foolish to believe that the globes of hope, which are a testament to our wisdom and power would not be sought out by the worst this universe has to offer. And yet."

The Grand Elder brought his focus to Krillin.

"The lure of the dragonballs also brought you, a human from the planet Earth if I am not mistaken."

"Yes, how do you know all of this?"

"Why Namek told me." The Grand Elder said softly.

"The planet? It talks to you?"

"In a sense, perhaps not in the same way we are speaking now but I learn what I need to know through her."

"Her? Namek is alive?"

"All planets are. Or did you believe your home to be a barren rock?"

Krillin blinked once unable to stop a mix of confusion and surprise from overtaking his face.

The Grand Elder's let loud bellow of a laugh before a coughing fit.

"Elder-" said Nail stepping toward the aged namekian.

"I am fine Nail." The Grand Elder said easing the warrior's worries before turning back to Krillin. "Forgive me it has been a long time since I've had such an interesting guest. Now then, I know you are in need of our dragonballs but I do not know for what purpose."

"Yes," Krillin said trying to prepare himself. "We need the dragonballs to help revive our friends and if we can do that here it'll help restore the dragonballs back on Earth."

"What?" The Grand Elder said with no small amount of shock. "There are dragonballs on Earth as well? Then a namekian-"

"I believe during the Great Storm many years ago a namekian fled to Earth on a spaceship, he landed there and became our Guardian. He was the one who created the dragonballs."

"The child of Katas…I see. This is quite a surprise; to think an infant could have traveled so far. He was a true prodigy from the dragon clan. A shame his father had to pass in the storm without ever meeting his child."

"Kami was from the dragon clan?"

"Kami. So that is the name he chose," The Grand Elder said deep in thought. "Yes, when Kami was born he demonstrated incredible skill at a very young age. To this day his ability to create dragonballs at such a tender age is still unmatched."

_I see…so only namekians from the dragon clan can make the dragonballs. I guess that's why Piccolo can't due to being a warrior._

"Little Earthling forgive me if I am mistaken but you speak as if Katas's child has died. The Grand Elder said bringing Krillin back into the conversation, "Was it old age? Or was he killed?"

The monk froze, the question nearly tearing him in half. Yet he forced himself to answer.

"He…he was killed. By me."

In an instant, Krillin could feel Nail lunge at him the namekian's charge covered with an intent to kill.

"Nail!"

As soon as his name was spoken the namekian warrior stopped dead. His palm already charged with pulsing energy just inches from Krillin's face.

"There is no need." The Grand Elder continued.

Nail resumed a relaxed stance and bowed before returning to his designated spot in the house, his face the definition of calm. Krillin, on the other hand, was anything but. Nail had moved faster than anyone he had seen up to this point. Neither Dodoria or Vegeta would be a match for the namekian and it was only now that the danger had passed did Krillin realize the state he was in. The back of his neck was drenched in sweat and the saliva in his mouth had dried up in an instant out of fear.

_If the Grand Elder had been any slower he would have been killed me._

"My apologizes Nail is very protective of me and any possible threats."

"Y-yeah, I…I get it." Krillin panted out trying to catch his breath.

"It seems your past is a little more complicated than I first believed. Come let us put an end to these questions."

The Grand Elder reached out with his large hand and held it to his side.

"Please, may I ask you to step over here?"

"Sure but why?" Krillin asked as he walked within the giant namekian's reach.

"To avoid any more confusion I must search your memories. Do I have your permission?"

Krillin flinched but conceded with a firm nod, silently hoping his past action wouldn't get him in any more trouble.

The Grand Elder's hand encased the monk's entire skull with just his palm and Krillin felt a sliver of ki run through his mind. Stealing a look at the Grand Elder the monk could see that the wise alien had fallen into deep thought as he combed through Krillin's history.

"Ah."

A small whimper escaped the Grand Elder and Krillin noticed the namekian's energy had paused in its search. The Grand Elder's mouth held itself open as a single small tear dripped out of his eye and ran down his face.

"Grand Elder? Are you alright?" Nail asked taking a step toward Krillin.

"Yes, Nail I am fine. I was simply unprepared for the gift I have received."

_Gift?_  Krillin thought to himself as The Grand Elder removed his hand.  _What gift?_

"You are plagued by uncertainty little Earthling. Most recently your fight with Dodoria has affected you deeply, and you fear for the worst."

The statement caught Krillin off guard.

_Shouldn't be surprised he looked through my memories. He probably knows everything._

"We all have our burdens little Earthling. Yours is truly a heavy one."

The monk said nothing in response.

"Thankfully you have allies on Namek to help you."

"Do you know where they are?"

"I do," The Grand Elder said with a nod. "They were not hard to find."

"Are they okay?" Krillin said his eagerness getting the better of him.

"Yes, they escaped with no harm done to them. They await your return. I will share their location with you soon."

"Thank you!" Krillin said with a hard bow. "Thank you so much!"

"I am also relieved to see that Tsuno and his village are well." The Grand Elder continued, "Frieza's prescience on Namek has endangered us all and I had feared my successor had been slain."

"Your successor?" The monk asked standing back up.

"Yes, when I pass on Tsuno will be given the position of Grand Elder. Much like how Kami has named you Earth's Guardian."

"You saw that?"

"Did you believe I hadn't?"

"No, but I had hoped."

"Really?" The Grand Elder asked a little surprised. "Are you ashamed?"

"…Mr. Popo said that if Kami isn't revived that I would have to take his place. I don't think that would be best for everyone. I'm doing everything I can to make sure Kami does return but…if I can't…"

"You doubt yourself. That is understandable after seeing what you have been through. Would you allow me to help with that burden?"

"What?"

"You possess exceptional power for an Earthling. Yet much of your strength lies dormant waiting to be awakened."

"Dormant power? Me?"

"Do you not believe you do?"

"I…I don't know. That's hard to believe, I've been training non-stop and I'm still barely holding myself together. You can try if you want but I think I've hit my limit."

"Then let us unleash your potential and see if you are correct."

Reaching out again The Grand Elder placed his hand onto of Krillin's head. Again the monk felt the wise namekian's ki run through him. Yet this time it was not a sliver of energy but a powerful pulse that reached through his entire body. Krillin felt the pulse slither to the very bottom of his feet pooling itself into his soles. As the human inhaled that pool of ki shot upward through every inch of him bringing itself back to his head clothing him in a dense aura of energy.

"It is done." The Grand Elder said removing his hand.

For a moment Krillin felt that the new power would leave as the older namekian lifted his palm. Yet the power stayed and Krillin slowly began to realize that this overflowing energy was his own.

"T…this power…this is mine?"

"It is. This is the power you had slumbering deep within."

The monk looked over himself feeling his energy flow around him as if it were dancing. Bringing his left hand close he played with a thin strand of lighting watching it crackle and snap over his fingers and knuckles controlling it more effectively than he ever had before. With his right hand, he summoned a small disc of ki spinning it effortlessly in his palm. Closing his hands both the electricity and disc vanished softly leaving Krillin alone with his newfound strength. He had soared onto a new level of strength far beyond what he could have ever reached before. Quickly comparing himself to Tien Krillin realized his newly-obtained power was equal to his three-eyed friend. Yet instead of joy, all the monk could feel was a deep sense of frustration.

"I knew it," Krillin said slowly.

Nail was on his guard still unwilling to completely trust the small human but a quick look from the Grand Elder set him at ease.

"Is there something wrong Krillin?"

"This is it isn't it? This is all I have? This is my potential unleashed?"

The Grand Elder nodded as that was the only answer he had.

"I knew it," Krillin said sinking into himself. "I knew it wouldn't be enough. I knew I wouldn't be strong enough. I'm only human after all."

After shaking his head Krillin bowed heavily to the Grand Elder.

"I'm sorry; I don't mean to sound ungrateful. When you said that you could awaken my dormant power…I…I thought there would be more. But I should have known. Please forgive me."

"You believed that your new power would be able to fight Frieza."

"….yes. I hoped. Thank you for helping me but I'm still far too weak to be of any real help."

"And what would you have done if you had obtained that power? Would you have killed him as you did Dodoria?"

Krillin flinched as he stood back up, "…I…I just want to protect the people I care about. I want to keep my promises and bring my friends home. But I can't if I'm not strong enough."

"You seek strength not to kill but to protect, to rebuild. A noble pursuit yet looking through your memories I have seen you are haunted by your past. To the point where it has affected your future, and your ability to guard your friends."

The monk said nothing.

"Let me ask you a question, little Earthling. Why have you chosen to repeat yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

"When Kami asked you to lead your friends in the war against your saiyan invaders you kept that quiet revealing your position only when it was forced upon you. Now you may become your planet's next Guardian yet again you remain quiet. Why?"

Krillin shook the question nearly knocking him back.

"….because I think Kami made a mistake."

"You feel he was wrong to choose you?"

"Yes…I'm not the right person. It should go to someone else."

"Someone with more strength?"

"Maybe…I don't know. I just don't think it should be me. I don't deserve it."

"Why not?"

"I've made mistakes."

"Do you believe you are the only one?"

"No, but if I become Guardian those mistakes will have greater consequences."

"There is no such thing as a flawless leader little Earthling."

"True, but I'm human. I'm nothing but flaws."

A great smile grew across the Grand Elder's face and a loud bellow erupted from the older namekian. A hard laugh of joy echoed throughout the small house. Once it had ended the Grand Elder continued still wearing a happy grin.

"It seems the child of Katas has grown quite wise through the years. He has chosen well, very well."

Krillin could not stop his confusion warping his face.

"Little Earthling. You must understand that it is your reluctance of becoming Guardian that shows how worthy you are of the title."

"I…I don't understand."

"The position of Guardian of Earth is a powerful burden, just as the Grand Elder of Namek is for me. Looking through your past I see that when Kami desired the power of the Lookout's master he demanded it. No doubt the years of solitude and memories of being praised as a prodigy on Namek had negatively shaped his behavior. When he was refused it tore him in half. Creating the creature you know as King Piccolo and letting him run rampant on Earth. At the start Kami only saw the power that came with being Earth's Guardian and none of the burden. That was his greatest mistake. Failures and flaws are not limited to humanity little Earthling. You learn the most from your mistakes. If everyone was perfect then there would be no growth. In choosing you Kami has realized his error and selected an individual who views the position of Guardian in the complete opposite way than he did."

"Opposite?"

"You see only the burden but none of the power."

"Power? But Kami wasn't very strong. Even if I do accept I don't think it would help against someone like Frieza."

"You are correct, Kami as a warrior is lacking and therefore he cannot use the Earth's strength for the sake of conflict. It is the same reason I cannot use Namek's energy to drive back these invaders."

"What about a namekian warrior?" Krillin asked, "If they became The Grand Elder could they help?"

"No, Namek still holds the scars of the Great Storm. It is simply not strong enough to match someone as ferocious as Frieza. Unlike the Earth that seems to hold more strength in its heart than I thought possible. Its sound is remarkable."

"It's sound?"

"Yes, the sound of your planet's heartbeat. I have yet to thank you for sharing that with me."

"But…I haven't."

"Oh but you have little Earthling. That is the gift you have given me while I searched your past. If you still doubt let me share with you Namek's sound."

Placing his hand close to Krillin's chest the monk could see that the Grand Elder was concentrating far more compared to searching his memories or releasing his power.

"You are not namekian so Namek will never speak to you, but I can help you listen to what she is saying."

Krillin waited a moment still confused by the Grand Elder's words. Yet as the seconds ticked by beyond the monk's own breathing he could hear nothing.

"Grand Elder I thi-"

**Thump**

A dense beat echoed throughout the monk's body. His entire being quaked from the noise resounding in every part of his spirit. In an instant Krillin's mind raced back to the moment he held the spirit bomb given to him by Goku. A similar sound had encased him filling him with a sense of hidden and endless power. Despite his new strength, the monk felt truly insignificant compared to the might of a planet.

As the Grand Elder removed his hand Krillin fell to his knees staring at the ground, gasping for air, and struggling to compose himself.

"What…what was that?"

"That. Was Namek."

Krillin breathed slowly making sure he had enough air in his lungs to move.  _That…that sound. I know that sound. There was so much power there. Yet-_

"It's…it's overwhelming. But…it's weaker than Earth's."

"You have sensed it as well. Every planet that holds life has an incredible amount of strength yet like the children they birth their power and strength vary. In this case, the Earth simply holds more life than Namek."

"I see…so earlier your tears-"

"It is because I listened to the Earth's sound through your memories." The Grand Elder said smoothly interrupting the monk. "I have known only Namek so listening to a planet not my own is a true gift. Your home, in particular, is very kind and wise to have helped you and your friends in that last battle."

"The Earth helped us?

"When you needed strength to fight off the saiyan known as Vegeta Earth answered your call and it will do so again if you need it. Your planet is strong and its heart is beautiful."

"T-thank you."

"You must understand that if you choose to take on the mantle of Guardian with the proper training you could gain access to that sound and strength. You sought a well of power yet you have been gifted an ocean."

The weight of elder's words burrowed into the small monk as he began to absorb what he was being told. "How is strong is the Earth?"

"I do not know. The energy you used against the saiyan Vegeta is but the smallest fraction of its strength. Yet that sound alone is still more powerful than all of Namek."

"But Kami has been Guardian for years," Krillin said still unconvinced. "Why couldn't he use this power?"

"It appears there are two reasons. He is no longer a true warrior due to his separation from Piccolo. If they were to rejoin and become whole again there is no doubt their combined strength would be enough to halt any invader, saiyan or not. A pity they could not overcome their differences."

"Really? They can be rejoined?"

"Perhaps, if you succeed in your quest to revive them."

Krillin smiled. "I would like that. I owe both of them a lot."

The Grand Elder nodded in approval before continuing. "The second reason is that while Kami has spent years as the Lookout's master the Earth will never speak to him."

"Never? Why?"

"It is because he is from Namek and the Earth did not give him life. Just as you cannot hear Namek's heart without aid Kami is just as deaf on Earth. His home is Namek and it is the only planet that will speak to him because he is namekian. Though fate has intervened and Earth is where he shall stay much of the Guardian's secrets remain closed to him because he was born on Namek."

"Then the Guardian before Kami…was he human? Like me?"

"That is a question only Kami can answer."

Krillin said nothing.

"While you have been through much little Earthling you still have much more to learn. You fear mistakes, mourn your lack of power, and cannot help but compare yourself to people you feel are your betters both friend and foe. If you continue to let these beliefs rule you then your promises will go unfulfilled. So allow me to share a truth."

The Grand Elder pointed directly at the monk with his long finger. Krillin sensed the air in the small house change and the Grand Elder's finger extended until it was tapping on the monk's heart.

"Being human  **does not**  mean you are weak. I have unleashed your potential but this is not your limit. It means that every step you take from here will be as the most powerful version of yourself. Your limit is what you decide it is."

The Grand Elder's finger retracted as the aged namekian lowered his hand.

"When we first met I asked you who you are. Has your answer changed?"

"Why are you helping me so much? I'm not a namekian or someone you know."

"After watching your past and listening to your home, I know you very well. I have seen you at your best and your worst. Despite your doubts and the limits you have placed upon yourself, you have held fast against everything thrown against you. You helped save your world and in doing so Kami has chosen you as his successor, I see why and I agree with your Guardian's judgment. However, my opinion should matter little. What is important is if you believe in yourself as much as we do. So I ask again. Who are you?"

The monk paused.

_That's a good question… regardless he's right. I have been desperately going around in circles. If he's telling the truth then becoming the Guardian of Earth wouldn't just mean replacing Kami. It could give me the strength to protect everyone. I wouldn't have to just stall for time waiting for Goku to arrive. I could help. I could make a difference. No one else would have to die._

Shifting slightly Krillin heard the soft crinkle of paper in his pocket, the pocket that held his master's greatest gift.

_I'm still human. I'm not a saiyan or a namekian but maybe this would be a way to stand side by side with them._

Clenching his hands into tight fists the monk stared deep into the Grand Elder's unusable eyes.

_I could do more….and that should be reason enough to give this a try._

"…I am Krillin….and I am the next in line to become Guardian of Earth."

As the words left him an invisible weight lifted itself from the monk's shoulders.

"That is a powerful title. What would you do with this strength?"

"I would keep my promises. To protect my friends. To protect my home."

"And what do those promises mean to you?"

"…everything."

The Grand Elder smiled showing every tooth in his mouth.

"You have not finished growing Krillin of Earth. I believe you have just begun."


	9. Return of a Friend

  **Author’s Notes: Hello all! Here's the newest chapter, sorry it took so long. I hope you enjoy!**

_It’s been almost two days now._

Bulma continued to look at the watch that she had set to Earth’s time the frown marking her face showing her concern.

_Two days, and no word from Krillin at all._

Looking up at the green sky of Namek the blue-haired genius let out a long sigh feeling the full weight of her uncertainty. The small canyon she found herself in had been the group’s hiding spot since Krillin had chased Dodoria off. Since then there had been no sign of the monk or the pink monster. Gohan had gone out searching several times but with the risk of running into more of Frieza’s soldiers, he kept close to the canyon. Despite his best efforts, the small half-saiyan had been unable to locate the lost little monk.

“And you haven’t gotten any better either.”

Speaking out loud to Tien the one other human joining her in the small canyon Bulma couldn’t help but stare at the three-eyed warrior her uncertainty only getting worse. Since being brought back from his fight against Vegeta Tien has remained still, refusing to open his eyes. He lay on a small mattress Bulma had pulled out of a capsule while he slept but the only sign of life was the consistent screams and shouts that would rip out of him without warning. This wasn’t due to pain, as far as Bulma could tell Tien had recovered fairly well. It seemed whatever was causing his suffering was coming from his own dreams. Thankfully at the present Tien seemed well enough and was resting but his sleep didn’t appear to have an end.

“Get up big guy; you still owe me an apology.”

Standing up off of the small rock she had been sitting on Bulma looked around the canyon. It was hidden away that even with scouters on Frieza’s men would have a hard enough time locating the exact position of the group. However, there was also not enough room to set up a capsule house and there was little to do. There was a small clearing not far from the canyon but it was too exposed to hide. However, it did have enough room for Gohan to safely train. Every moment the half-saiyan wasn’t searching for Krillin he spent it in the clearing practicing against invisible opponents. Throwing a heavy punch with a loud snap Gohan dodged an imaginary strike coming to his left and responded with a controlled but violent kick. Flipping backward the child quickly generated two small discs of ki in the palms of his hands.

“Destructo disc!”

Throwing one and then the other Gohan sliced through whatever enemies he faced with ease.

“Gohan!”

The half-saiyan flinched at his name and looked at the genius with some shame.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to use your energy? The scouters can pick up on that.”

“I’m sorry Mrs. Bulma.”

“And would you please stop with the Mrs too? I’m not married you can just call me Bulma.”

“Sorry, M….Bulma.”

“Honestly, you have to be more careful Gohan we’re in no position for a fight.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Bulma sighed as she pulled out the dragon radar from her pocket. Turning on the device and tracking a big cluster of 5 dragonballs flickering on the radar Bulma narrowed her eyes.

“Hmm, doesn’t seem like there’s been any movement. Weird.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Gohan asked, “Frieza only has five of the dragonballs doesn’t he need seven?”

“He does, so why hasn’t he already collected the two? When we got here they were moving from village to village without stopping so why the pause?”

“Maybe they got lost?”

“Gohan that’s not…what a minute.”

Checking the radar again Bulma narrowed her eyes before something clicked in her mind.

“Gohan I think you’re right!”

“Really?”

“I think so when we saw them fly past us on the first day they were wearing scouters right?”

“Right.”

“They must have been tracking the dragonballs location based on the power levels of the namekians. Maybe something happened to their scouters and they can’t find the last two without them.”

“I saw some of the namekians destroy them at that village where Dodoria was.”

 “That must be it! They don’t have any spares! We may be able to move around Namek with more freedom than we thought. Without their scouters they won’t be able to find us so easily.”

“R…right,” Gohan said getting a little lost with the details. “That’s good?”

 “That’s very good Gohan,” Bulma said with a smile. “This means we’ll have to move again, we need to get closer to those two dragonballs.”

“Does that mean I’ll have to carry you and Mr. Tien again?”

“We don’t have a choice Gohan. With Tien still unconscious you’re the only one who can fly.”

“Yeah, but you two are heavy.”

“Hey! It’s rude to call a lady heavy!” Bulma snapped.

Gohan flinched but recovered quickly.

“Alright, we should start packing up.” Bulma continued as if nothing had happened. Turning to head back into the canyon the blue-haired genius was stopped by a question.

“What about Mr. Krillin?”

Bulma had been dreading this mostly since she really didn’t have an answer but couldn’t help but fear the worst. With no alternative, she made her way back toward the half-saiyan and knelt down to meet Gohan at eye level.

“Gohan I-”

Before Bulma could say another word Gohan’s eyes widened and he ran into the canyon.

“Gohan?”

Getting back onto her feet Bulma dashed after the young boy making her way around the sleeping Tien.

“Geez, Gohan you didn’t have to jump me like that.”

A voice that Bulma instantly recognized rang out from the other end of the canyon and as she exited out into another clearing she could see where Gohan had gone.

“To be honest I wasn’t expecting a welcome like that,” Krillin said with a warm smile as he patted the half-saiyan’s head. “Glad to have it though.”

Gohan had glued himself to Krillin with a big hug and was burying his face into the monk’s side. Krillin let loose another grin before noticing Bulma.

“Hey.”

Marching up to the monk Bulma threw a punch at Krillin’s shoulder. “You took too long.”

“Sorry,” Krillin said rubbing his shoulder with his left hand to dull the pain.

“Whoa, what happened to your arm?” Bulma asked noticing the faded electrical burns zigzagging across his limb.

“Oh…I’ll tell you later.” 

“Does it involve Dodoria?”

“…yeah.”

“Is he-”

“Don’t worry. I beat him.”

“Is there a chance he could come back?”Gohan asked removing himself from Krillin’s leg.

“…no Gohan, he won’t be back.”

“Oh…okay.”

A moment of silence passed through the group.

“Where’s Tien?” Krillin asked after the moment.

“In the back. He…still hasn’t woken up.”

“Okay, we’ll have to fix that.”

“How?”

“The Grand Elder of Namek. He helped me find you guys he should be able to help Tien as well.”

“…maybe you should start from the beginning.”

“I will, but we should move.”

Krillin tried to take a step forward but stopped as he felt a small tug on the back of his pant leg. Turning he saw the small half-saiyan struggling to keep his composure.

“Mr. Krillin…I’m, sorry about-”

Kneeling down Krillin met the young boy at eye-level and placed a hand on Gohan’s shoulder.

“You kept them safe just like I asked. Thank you.”

Gohan met the monk’s gaze and small tears started to well up in the young boy’s eyes before he wiped them away with the back of his hand.

“You got stronger Mr. Krillin.”

“Just a little.” The monk said with a smile.

* * *

 

“That’s…quite a story,” Bulma said with no small amount of awe as the group flew toward the Grand Elder’s house. She was being carried by Gohan while Krillin held Tien on his back.

“I’m glad the namekians here are friendly though sounds like it could have gone a lot worse without them.”

“That’s putting it mildly. I probably wouldn’t be here without Tsuno and his village.”

“That’s because you keep trying to do everything by yourself.”

“Didn’t I already say sorry?”

“I guess you did…This Grand Elder, do you really think he can help Tien?”

“He’s basically the Kami of this world if anyone can help Tien recover it’ll be him. Plus he helped boost my power so he maybe he’ll be able to do the same with Gohan and Tien.”

“You think that’ll be enough?”

“I hope so; if Frieza had a dragon radar like us they would have assaulted the Grand Elder’s house by now they were probably relying on the scouters. Without any left, they’ve got the whole planet to cover but no idea where to start. We have the advantage. As long as we can keep them from collecting all seven we’ll be able to wait for Goku to arrive. Once he’s here we’ll have the best chance we’ll get to go for the other five dragonballs.”

“Alright, sounds like a plan,” Bulma said with a nod.

 “…there’s also one more thing I need to tell you all. But it’ll have to wait until Tien is awake.

“What? Why?” Bulma asked.

“We’re here,” Krillin answered ignoring the question.

Touching down on the great pillar of stone the group started walking toward the entrance of the Grand Elder’s house. Gohan let go of Bulma while Krillin continued to carry Tien. The doorway to the home lifted upward as Nail stepped out.

“You’re back.”

“Hi Nail,” Krillin said as he shifted Tien into a better position on his back.

“These are your friends?”

“Yeah, this is Bulma, Gohan, and Tien,” Krillin said pointing out each person as he listed them. “Guys this is Nail, the Grand Elder’s protector.”

Gohan bowed while Bulma just nodded keeping her distance.

“Well met,” Nail responded. “The Grand Elder will see you now, this way please.”

The namekian reentered the home with the group following closely behind.

“Mr. Krillin, he looks a lot like Mr. Piccolo,” Gohan said whispering as if it were a secret.

“Yeah, though in Tsuno’s village there were younger and older namekians too.”

“Really? Were there kids like me?”

“A few.”

Gohan smiled leaving Krillin a little confused by the question before realizing.

_He doesn’t have any friends his age._

The thought was a hard one to swallow as the group made their way up onto the second level of the namekian house with Bulma again being carried by the small half-saiyan.

_Never mind friends his age, does Gohan even really have friends? Do I count? Do Piccolo or Bulma?_

Krillin couldn’t help but take a quick glance at his best friend’s son who was looking around the Grand Elder’s home soaking in the new surrounding with a sense of excitement.

_He needs to go home._

“You’ve returned Krillin of Earth.”

The Grand Elder’s voice tore the monk away from his own head.

“I have Grand Elder. I’ve brought my friends as well; this is Bulma, Gohan, and Tien.”

Bulma and Gohan looked at the Grand Elder in awe as the subtle pull of his power encased them both. Snapping awake Gohan was the first to bow politely and greet the leader of Namek.

“H-Hello.”

The Grand Elder nodded in response to the bow. “I am relieved you made the journey here safely. It is still dangerous on Namek with Frieza and his men hunting for the dragonballs.”

“Agreed, though it seems they have less idea of where to go then we first thought,” said Krillin. “Their scouters are broken and without them, they’ll have a tough time finding your home.”

“Perhaps, but they will not stop searching and Namek is not infinite. They will find us soon.”

“We’ll keep the dragonballs safe,” Krillin said without hesitation.

The Grand Elder smiled. “Thank you; now having seen your past I am quite familiar with Bulma, Gohan, and Tien. You are all welcome here.”

“O-oh, thank you very much,” Bulma said with a bow of her own.

“I believe you have come seeking help?” The Grand Elder continued.

“Yes Grand Elder,” Krillin said as he slowly laid Tien onto the ground in front of the aged namekian. “He exhausted himself fighting and he hasn’t woken up since then. I was hoping you could heal him as Tsuno did for me.”

“Hmmm. He used the Evil Containment Wave against the saiyan known as Vegeta correct? A dangerous technique if your memories are correct he was near death as well.”

“I think he may have overtaxed himself in the time chamber as well,” Krillin continued. “Kami helped me through that but Tien hasn’t had anyone.”

“Not only the body but the mind as well. Only natural that his sleep is this deep due to the extent of the damage he has endured.”

“Can you help him?”

“I can.”

The Grand Elder reached toward Tien his outstretched hand clothed with a visible aura of energy. Concentrating on the human that lay before him the aura surrounding the Grand Elder’s palm slipped off of the aged namekian and fed itself onto Tien. Krillin, Bulma, and Gohan watched as the three-eyed human was surrounded by all sides by the blinding light. The seconds ticked by the light faded growing to a faint glow before disappearing entirely.

“It is done.” The Grand Elder said his breathing slightly strained.

Krillin took a step toward Tien to help in whatever way he could. Only to flinch when his friend bolted upright without warning, gasping for air as if he were starving for it.

“Where?” Tien said his eyes darting around trying to get a sense of his surroundings.

“Tien, Tien it’s okay.”

The three-eyed human turned to see Krillin which helped him relax but not by much.

“Krillin? What’s going on?”

Tien faulted for a moment his exhaustion catching up to him. Krillin was by his side in an instant.

“Bulma do you have any water? He’s probably dehydrated.”

“Yeah, give me a sec,” Bulma said taking off the backpack she had carried with her and digging through its contents.

“Vegeta…what happened?”

“I’ll explain soon, how are you feeling?”

Tien blinked and reached for his head with his remaining hand.

“Better. I feel a …a lot better.”

* * *

 

“That’s quite a story,” Tien said as he took another sip of water.

“It probably wouldn’t be as bad if you hadn’t tried to kill yourself. You’re lucky Krillin was there to save you.” Bulma said with no small amount of disdain, “You’ve also been a real ass for the past month as well.”

“I’m...I apologize.” Tien said looking at Gohan, Krillin, and Bulma. “My actions lately have been…less than ideal.”

“It’s okay Mr. Tien!” The half-saiyan said with a smile. “We’re just glad you’re alright!”

Tien returned the smile with one of his own before turning to the monk.

“Thank you, Krillin. I’m-”

“You’ll be on laundry duty for the trip home. You do that and we’re good, deal?”

“Deal,” Tien replied quickly. “I also have you to thank Grand Elder,” Tien said as he bowed deeply before the leader of Namek. “You do not even know me and yet you saved my life. I am in your debt.”

“I am well aware of who you are Tien Shinhan.” The Grand Elder said his voice enveloping the entire room. “You have a good heart and are a firm believer of honor in combat. It was your grief and loss that fueled your desire for power. I hope you now understand why that is a dangerous path to take.”

“I-I do,” Tien said surprised at how much the Grand Elder knew about him.

“Do you? I suspect you intend to ask for my assistance again. No doubt you’ve seen what help I was able to provide Krillin. Unlocking his potential has dramatically increased his power do you wish the same for yourself?”

“…yes.”

“Unfortunately, that is not possible.” The Grand Elder said his voice holding no joy. “You already possess all the power I would have drawn out. By drinking the Ultra Divine Water you hold mastery of your potential though it seems the process was much more violent.”

“…I see. So I have already reached my limit?”

“Your limit is what you decide it is.” Krillin said smoothly interrupting, “That’s what the Grand Elder said to me when I asked the same question.”

“Precisely, there is no reason to believe you have stopped improving. Though I cannot help you, you can always help yourself.”

“What do you mean?” Tien asked.

“Your arm,” The Grand Elder said pointing to Tien’s stump where his right arm used to be. “Why have you not replaced it?”

“Replace? I-I can’t…I lost it in the fight against the saiyans.”

“I am aware. Peering through the memories of Krillin I was witness to the loss of your hand to the saiyan Nappa.” The Grand Elder said his presence commanding Tien’s full attention. “I was also witness to your battle against Son Goku at the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament. In the midst of that fight, you used a technique named the Four Witches.”

Tien’s recoiled as if he had been shot and couldn’t hide the surprise on his face.

“What’s the Four Witches technique?” Gohan asked Bulma who was standing next to him.

“Hmmm.….OH! That’s right!” Bulma said her face lighting up as her memory started to work. “Your dad and Tien fought in a World Martial Arts Tournament a couple of years ago. The Four Witches is-”

“It’s a technique I used to grow two arms on my back,” Tien said cutting off the blue-haired genius. “With four arms you can attack and defend at the same time but it uses up a lot of energy to maintain. The technique only has me growing arms from my back I’m not sure if I can just grow a limb anywhere I choose.”

“Perhaps in the past, that was your limit,” said The Grand Elder. “You have grown much stronger since then.”

“Could that work Tien?” Krillin asked a little surprised his friend hadn’t thought of this solution earlier. “Have you already tried?”

“…no…I-”

“You had forgotten. Am I correct?” The Grand Elder said with ease.

Tien flinched, his shame apparent to everyone in the room.

“So great was your rage and desire for vengeance you had forgotten what you are capable of.”

“I…I don’t know if it will work,” Tien said slowly.

“Will that stop you from trying?”

Tien paused for a moment without replying before steeling himself and gripping his right shoulder with his left hand. Summoning his ki and jamming it into what remained of his right arm Tien struggled in his attempt to regrow what he had lost. The three-eyed human’s strain was easy to see and he pumped more and more energy into his stump. His breathing came out labored, his feet shifted for better balance, his grip on his shoulder tightened, as he continued to struggle. His stump twitched and shook before an arm complete with a new hand shot out covered in blood, but otherwise unharmed.

“…my arm,” Tien said completely mesmerized by the return of his right hand. Holding his wrist as if it were going to disappear again he couldn’t help a wide smile overtake his face

“Here,” Bulma said handing her friend a towel from the bag.

Slowly cleaning off the damp blood Tien flexed his hand once and then twice. “Thank you, Grand Elder.”

“I did nothing Tien Shinhan. You owe it to your own strength.”

“Then thank you for reminding me of the strength I have.”

The Grand Elder nodded before casting his gaze to Krillin.

“I feel that Tien’s wellbeing is not the only reason you have returned.”

“Yes Grand Elder,” said Krillin. “We were hoping you could also help Gohan the same way you helped me.”

“Just the child?” The Grand Elder said with some surprise, “Isn’t there another whose potential still sleeps?”

“Another?”

“Your friend, the one known as Bulma.’

“Me?” Bulma asked while pointing to herself, “I have potential?”

“I believe it to be so.” The Grand Elder replied.

“Wait, Bulma? No, she’s not a fighter Grand Elder.” Krillin said a little frantic.

“Do you believe that should stop her from trying?”

“That’s not- no but it’s too dangerous,” Krillin continued trying to shape his reasoning. “Bulma, you don’t have t-”

“I’ll do it.”

“What?”

“I didn’t travel half-way across the universe just to sit on my butt and do nothing Krillin. If I can help, I’m going to.”

“But it’s da-”

“Dangerous, I know. But I can say the same thing to you and that wouldn’t stop you would it?”

Krillin had no response.

“I want to save our friends too Krillin that’s why I’m here.” Bulma said, “Though even if you do object, it’s not really your decision to make.”

Krillin could say nothing as the blue-haired genius walked up to the Grand Elder. “So what do I have to do?”

“Simply stand next to me and allow me access to your energy.”

“Okay.” Bulma said following the instructions, “Will I be able to fly and shoot energy blasts out of my hands?”

“If that is where your potential lies it shall be so.” The Grand Elder said as he placed his hand on top of Bulma’s head.

Concentrating the Grand Elder’s energy fluctuated and mixed with Bulma’s own ki signature. The process only took a moment as Bulma was surrounded by bright light expanding her energy to its fullest.

“It is done,” The Grand Elder said as he removed his hand as the light faded.

Trying to sense his friend’s ki Krillin noticed that the increase in strength did not seem as drastic as he thought it would be.

_I can’t sense more power radiating from her. Did it work?_

“Bulma? How do you feel?”  Krillin asked a little worried.

“…Huh. I feel fine, I guess?” Bulma said looking over herself and seeing nothing out of place.

“Can you fly now?” Gohan asked, “If you can, do I still have to carry you?”

“Hey! That’s…wait a second…oh!”

Bulma’s eyes lit up and she held her head as if in shock. “But what about?...Oh, wait…wait…that makes sense!” A wide smile appeared on the young woman’s face.  “It all makes sense now!”

“Mr. Krillin, what’s happening to Mrs. Bulma?” Gohan asked the monk standing next to him.

“…I have no idea.”

“Maybe her potential was the only thing keeping her from going crazy,” Tien said with a small smirk.

“Shut up Tien I’m not crazy. If anything I’m smarter than I’ve ever been!”

“Ah I see,” The Grand Elder said with a nod. “Your strength lies in your intelligence. Unlocking your potential seems to have expanded your intellect instead of your ability to fight.”

“My mind is moving at a million miles an hour. I’m solving problems faster than I can come up with them. It’s too bad I can’t build anything here I’m sure I could come up with som- oh sorry. Thank you, Grand Elder,” Bulma said with a bow.

“You are welcome Bulma Briefs. Now then, before I help young Gohan perhaps you would like to share something with your friends, Krillin of Earth?”

 The monk blinked in surprise a little shocked the Grand Elder could see he hadn’t told his friends about his position as guardian.

_Then again I think he knows me better than I do at this point._

 “What is he talking about Krillin?” Tien asked turning toward the monk.

Krillin let out a soft sigh.

“Before we left for Namek Mr. Popo told me that Earth needs a guardian and with Kami gone there’s no one left to fill that role. He said he’ll be able to take Kami’s place for a while but not forever. So, if we fail here. If we can’t bring back Kami then I’ll have to become the Guardian of Earth.”

A strong hush fell over the group as Krillin’s words were absorbed by his friends.

“Guardian of the Earth? What does that mean?” Bulma asked the first one to break the silence.

“Honestly, I have no idea. Mr. Popo couldn’t tell me much and at the time I didn’t really want to know…but,” Krillin said trying his best to steel himself. “Whatever happens here Earth will still need a guardian and it will have one…it just may have to be me.”

“Is that what you want?”

“No, but it’s something I have to accept.” Krillin fired back quickly.

 “You should have told us about this earlier.” Bulma continued.

“I’ve been trying to avoid thinking about it too much.”

“Did that help?”

“…Not really.”

 “Look, clearly keeping secrets isn’t going to help anyone.” Bulma said looking at both the monk and the three-eyed human, “Trust us Krillin. We’re here for you.”

“It’s not like I didn’t trust you guys,” Krillin snapped a little more harshly then he intended. “I just, if I accepted that I may become the guardian that’s also accepting that we might fail. I wasn’t ready to admit that, I can’t…I can’t handle another failure.”

Krillin paused trying to find the words. “We lost Yamcha, Yajirobi, Chiaotzu, Piccolo, Kami, and all of East City to the saiyans. I failed to keep our friends safe. I failed as a leader. I couldn’t understand why Kami would trust me with the safety of the Earth. So I ignored the offer and did my best to focus on succeeding here. It wasn’t until I talked to the Grand Elder that he helped me realize that I can’t let the past stop me from trying.”

Turning both hands into fists the monk steeled himself before declaring,

“The most important thing is what I do right now. So I’ll fight. I’ll get stronger. I’ll even become Guardian if I have to. Because if I want to protect the people I care about I’ll do everything I can to keep them safe.”

Standing firm the monk looked out at all of his friends trying to gauge their reactions. Bulma had a concerned look on her face while Tien was looking away as if he were ashamed. It was Gohan who walked up to the monk with a question.

 “Mr. Krillin,” Gohan said quietly. “If you become the guardian, are you going to become old?”

Bulma spit out a hard laugh while Tien hid a grin.

“What? Gohan what are you talking about?” Krillin asked a little bewildered.

“Well Kami was the guardian and he’s old but he and Mr. Piccolo were the same person. But Mr. Piccolo isn’t old looking so being the guardian must make you old right?”

“Gohan that isn-” Krillin stopped as he looked at the Grand Elder who some would describe as the very definition of old. “….um.”

“Don’t worry Krillin,” Bulma said trying not to laugh again. “When you’re the Guardian of Earth at least the job comes with a cane you can lean on.”

 “It’s a staff and I think you know that,” Krillin replied dryly.

Tien let out a small snort that had everyone in the room turn.

“…sorry.”

As the laughter around him continued the monk couldn’t help but smile himself. His little speech had gone as well as he could hope and it felt good sharing his burden.

“You have good friends, Krillin of Earth.” The Grand Elder said commanding the room in an instant.

“Yes, they are.”

“Now that you are all reunited I must ask a favor of you.”

Reaching above his chair where the one-star dragonball laid the Grand Elder removed the orb and handed it to Bulma who held it with both hands.

“Please take this dragonball and the one you received from Tsuno and hide them away from Frieza. This place will soon be discovered and when it is the dragonballs must not be here.”

“Are you certain Grand Elder?” Nail asked stepping forward.

“I am Nail.”

Silently nodding Nail handed over the four-star dragonball to Tien.

“Thank you, Grand Elder,” Krillin said. “We will keep them safe.”

“Please do. Now then, Son Gohan.”

“Y-yes?” Gohan said a little afraid.

“I believe I am able to help you right now.” The Grand Elder reached out with his hand. “Do you wish to see what power you have sleeping within?”

“Yes!” Gohan said nodding firmly.

Walking up to the Grand Elder’s side the giant palm rested on the half-saiyan’s head.

“Relax young one. This will only take a moment.”

Gohan nodded once more and closed his eyes. With the Grand Elder’s aid, Gohan’s ki started to amplify and grow. The bright glow Krillin had seen surrounding himself and Bulma encased Gohan as the young boy’s energy climbed higher and higher. As the seconds ticked by and the glow only grew larger Krillin had a thought cross his mind.

_…why is this going on for so long?_

The bright light grew in strength nearly pouring out of Gohan blinding everyone who was looking directly at the half-saiyan. Shielding his eyes Krillin got a look of the Grand Elder’s face. The aged namekian seemed overwhelmed as the light coming from Gohan surged with even more power completely blocking the monk’s sight.

_Something’s wrong!_

“Gohan!” Krillin shouted trying to make his way toward the young boy.

 “Move!”

Krillin heard Nail shout as he dashed past him toward the Grand Elder. Trying his best to see through the light Krillin saw the faint outline of Nail ripping the Grand Elder’s hand off of Gohan’s head. In an instant, the bright light vanished and the group regained their vision.

“What was that?” Tien asked shaking his head trying to focus.

“Gohan!”

Rushing forward toward the young boy Krillin quickly looked him over trying to see if anything was wrong. Seeing nothing the monk grabbed Gohan by the shoulders.

“Gohan, are you okay?”

Slowly Gohan opened his eyes. “Mr. Krillin? What’s wrong?”

“Are you okay Gohan?”

“I’m fine…whoa!” The half-saiyan said looking at his hands “Mr. Krillin I feel really, really strong!”

Getting a sense of Gohan’s strength revealed that the young boy was correct. His strength had increased a substantial amount.

_He’s stronger than Vegeta when he first arrived on Earth. That’s good, but what was that ligh-_

“Grand Elder!”

Nail’s shout stopped Krillin’s thoughts cold and he looked up to see the Grand Elder more drained than he had ever seen him before. Breathing very slowly and gasping for air the aged namekian looked completely devoid of the great presence Krillin had gotten so used to.

“Is he al-”

“Leave!”

“But we can he-”

“I said leave human!”

The order from Namek’s greatest warrior had an immediate effect as the group of Earthlings slowly made their way out of the house and back outside.

“Krillin, what’s going on?” Bulma asked still holding the one-star dragonball.

“I don’t know. That didn’t happen with me or you maybe something went wrong? Are you sure you’re alright Gohan?” asked Krillin.

“Yeah, I feel great!”

“That’s a relief, so what’s the next move Krillin?” said Tien still holding the four-star dragonball.

“Well, …we should listen to the Grand Elder and hide these two dragonballs. Once that’s done we should find a place to hunker down and wait for Goku. Until th-”

“The spaceship!”

Krillin stopped talking as Bulma’s scream echoed throughout Namek.

“What? What about the spaceship?” The monk asked his head still ringing.

“I need to get back to the spaceship! I might be able to fix it!”

“Really?”

“Wait….wait….no…sorry no I can’t. I thought I could for a moment. It’s weird figuring all this stuff out at once, I can barely keep up.”

“So you can’t fix the ship?”

“No sorry, but I still need to get back there,” Bulma said handing Krillin her dragonball.

“Why?” Krillin asked grabbing the orb with both hands.

“There are still some good parts there maybe I could build something useful to help you guys fight.”

“Really? Like what?” asked Tien.

“I don’t know I’m sure I’ll figure it out when I get there.”

“Alright then, Tien and I will hide the dragonballs and then join you and Gohan at the ship. Gohan you might be safe from the scouters but stay away from any unfamiliar ki signatures got it?”

“Got it, Mr. Krillin!”

“And don’t drop Bulma either, even if she is heavy.”

Gohan grinned and Bulma scowled.

“I’ll remember that.” The blue-haired genius said with narrowed eyes.

“Well don’t call me old,” The monk said with a quick smile. “We’ll see you soon.”

Still glaring at her friend Bulma allowed herself to be picked up by Gohan before flying away toward the broken spaceship.

“So we’re going to hide the dragonballs now?” Tien asked watching the pair fly off.

“First we’re going back inside to see if the Grand Elder is okay.”

“Didn’t Nail just kick us out?”

“He did, but I want to know why.”

* * *

 

“I thought I told you to leave.”Nail said with a sharp bite.

Krillin and Tien had returned inside to see that Namek’s greatest warrior was still standing by the Grand Elder’s side. The aged namekian’s breathing came out strained and slowly. Beads of sweat lined his forehead as he sank deeper into his chair.

“We will once we understand what happened with Gohan.”

“You dare make demands of me human?”

“Nail…please.” The Grand Elder wheezed out. “They are only…concerned about their…friend as you are me. I shall…explain.”

Krillin and Tien waited as the Grand Elder caught his breath.

“Fear not…Krillin of Earth…the child is not harmed. It is I…who was weakened.”

“What happened Grand Elder?”

“The young one’s potential…is **vast**. Far more than I believed…if Nail…had not intervened I would have perished in my efforts to unlock it.”

“Gohan? He has that much power?” Tien asked in disbelief.

“…Piccolo once told me that Gohan is far stronger than any of us. Apparently, he was the one who defeated Raditz when he came to Earth.” Krillin answered.

“What? He was only four at the time. That can’t be true.”

“It is. When we were fighting Vegeta on Earth after you had passed out I could sense his energy rising far beyond what he was capable of at the time. I’m not sure but I think his power is connected to his anger, the more rage he experiences the stronger he becomes.”

“How strong?”

“I…fear far stronger than we can imagine,” The Grand Elder said before falling into a hard coughing fit.

“Grand Elder!” Nail said his concern easy to see.

“Hear me…Krillin of Earth. Your efforts to shield the boy are …correct. No child… should experience the battles you have had to endure. However, I believe…I may have made that impossible…to prevent.”

“What do you mean?”

“Son Gohan’s hidden power…while much still slumbers…I have awoken a small part the rest may surface soon…it…it will be too much for him to handle…beware…beware his saiyan…heritage.”

“What do you mean Grand Elder? What’s going to happen to Gohan?”

“Return…return here when…you have collected all seven dragonballs…there…there is one more gift Namek can offer.”

_A gift?_

“For…forgive me. I must…rest.”

Without the strength to continue the Grand Elder collapsed into himself and faded away into a deep sleep.

“Gra-”

“Trouble him no further human,” Nail said stepping in front of the monk. “You have done enough.”

“We…we’re sorry, but what was the gift the Grand Elder the talked about?”

“…I do not know. More importantly, you have your orders. Follow them.”

* * *

 

“What do you think the Grand Elder meant?” Tien asked as he flew away from the small namekian home dragonball still in hand. “Beware Gohan’s saiyan heritage?”

“I’m not sure,” Krillin answered back, “Both Goku and Vegeta are full-blooded saiyans and they crave a good fight above anything else. Gohan is only half-saiyan and he doesn’t have that same desire most likely due to the fact he’s half human, so… maybe…the Grand Elder was warning us about Gohan’s saiyan half.”

“Maybe he would want to fight like Goku.”

“I don’t think it would be the same. Goku enjoys fighting its sort of like a game for him and the stronger the opponent the better. He’s the happiest when he’s fighting someone who can really challenge him. Both Piccolo and Vegeta threatened the world but Goku sees them only as good fights. Gohan’s different.”

“How so?

 “Before the battle with the saiyans, Gohan told me he didn’t want to fight at all. But when it looked like Vegeta had killed Piccolo he said he would kill him. The scary thing is, I think he meant it. Have you ever heard Goku say that?”

“…no.”

“We’re fighting for our lives out here. This isn’t the place for someone as young as Gohan. He should be making friends and learning new things. He should have the chance to be a normal kid. Goku chose his path but Gohan hasn’t had the same choice. If this hidden power is as strong as Piccolo and the Grand Elder are saying then that could be more dangerous then we think. If his power overwhelms him he may make a mistake he can’t take back.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“He’s just a kid, not a weapon no matter how powerful he is. If his saiyan heritage compels him to fight, to kill, then I’ll do everything I can to stop him.”

“How?”

“…I don’t know. But I have to try, someone has to.”

Tien’s paused in his questioning and for a moment the two Earthlings flew in silence.

“How do you do it?”

“What?” Krillin asked a little confused by the question.

“How do you keep going? After everything, how do you find the strength? Do you not think about giving up at all?.....Aren’t you scared?”

“…Chiaotzu asked me the same question.”

“He-he did?”

“The day before the saiyans arrived. He was having a hard time so I told him that of course, I was scared. That if it was just me if I was the only one I really cared about, I’d leave. I’d get on a spaceship or something and just go without looking back. But, I have a lot of people I need to be here for. People I care about. I can’t let them down. And you know what, that’s the same reason he stayed. That’s why he did what he did, he did it for us.”

Tien said nothing.

“Everyone’s going home.” Krillin continued, “I meant it back then and I mean it now.”

“Krillin,” Tien said slowly as he looked at his friend. “…You’re a good leader. So if it comes to it, if Kami doesn’t return. I think you would make a good Guardian as well.”

The monk recoiled for a moment not expecting the sincere compliment. “Thank you, Tien. I…I’m glad you’re here.”

“So am I,” Tien said with a smile. “…I’m going to have to apologize to Launch when I get back.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Do you think I should wait for when she has blue hair?”

“If you don’t want a bullet in your head yeah maybe you should. Though if you tell her she’s pretty then you might have a better time.”

“Wha-what are you talking about?” Tien shouted a hint of a blush on his cheeks.

“You said she was pretty when she laughs.”

“I!....I only said that because I thought I was going to die!”

“Does that make it less true?”

Tien grumbled as the blush deepened. “What about you? You still want a girlfriend?”

“Yeah, but namekians aren't my type.”

“………….”

“You asked!”

Tien was about to reply when his senses blared a warning of danger.

“Krillin! Get down!”

Without question the monk dove for the ground and hide behind a large rock with the three-eyed warrior following close behind. Getting a sense of his surroundings Krillin locked on to a large energy source just a few miles ahead of them.

“It doesn’t feel namekian. It could be one of Frieza’s men.” Tien said softly.

“I think you’re right.”

Looking past the rock Krillin saw a lone figure flying in the distance at great speed. Trying to make out the shape he could see that the stranger held a humanoid figure wearing armor much like Dodoria’s and Cui’s though this one had added a cape to his attire. Guessing he was spying on an alien Krillin confirmed his suspicions as he observed the light blue skin tone. What the monk ended up focusing on was the green colored hair the alien had fashioned into a ponytail.

“It has green hair,” Krillin whispered. “Gohan mentioned another alien that had green hair that was working with Dodoria. Zar, I think.”

“Zar?”

“Something like that I can’t remember.”

“Can we avoid him?”

“Maybe, but he’s flying in the direction of the Grand Elder’s home. If he doesn’t change course it’ll find the Elder sooner or later.” Krillin said as he took another look at the alien. “He’s alone as well; I think we should take him out.” The monk placed the dragonball he was holding on the ground. “We can throw the dragonballs in that river over there that way he won’t be able to find them. He’s strong, a little stronger than Dodoria but with the two of us I think we’ve got a good chance.”

“Krillin, wait,” Tien said holding the monk on the shoulder stopping him from moving. “…I don’t know if I’m ready.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“…before the Grand Elder woke me up, I was having nightmares.”

“Nightmares?”

“…about Cui.”

“Oh.”

Tien’s face twisted in discomfort.

“I just kept hearing his voice over and over and over. It just kept getting louder, even now I-”

Krillin placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I understand. When…when I told you about Dodoria I didn’t go in specifics because Gohan was there.”

Thrusting his left arm forward the monk shared his scars to the three-eyed human.

“I got these during the fight. Tsuno healed me but I have a feeling these aren’t going away. Just like Dodoria’s last words before I killed him.”

 Tien recoiled for a moment but let the monk continue.

“You know about Nappa. Sui and Banan were two of Frieza’s men that attacked us after you went after Vegeta. Even Piccolo and Kami from the spirit bomb, I’ve killed six people Tien. If this alien is an enemy, if he stands in our way and tries to stop us from bringing back our friends. Then the absolute best scenario I have is that I walk away having killed seven.”

Krillin talked slowly through clenched teeth.

“It isn’t fair and it isn’t right but this is just another war we have to live through so that no one else has too.”

Turning toward the nearby river Krillin tossed the dragonball into the water and watched it sink like a stone.

“I’d do this on my own if I could, but I can’t. Will you help me?”

Tien paused and looked at his regrown right arm before squeezing his fist tight.

“….no matter what happens, Tien.” Krillin said softly, “You will always be human.”

“Maybe…maybe not, but one thing is for certain. I will always be your friend.”

The monk offered a sad smile as Tien threw his own dragonball into the river smashed his right hand into his left palm.

“Lead on.”

 


	10. Lie to Live

**Author’s Note: Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well these days! Hard to believe we are coming up on summer already. So what better way to celebrate than with a new chapter? I’m trying something new for this fight, had some fun writing it and I’m hoping it flows well and no one is confused. Let me know if it works. That’s all for now, thank you all for reading and please, enjoy.**

* * *

 

_What a miserable planet._

Zarbon sneered as he flew trying to keep an eye out for any namekian villages or stray dragonballs.

_Nothing but wasteland for miles and the locals are just as hideous as their world. If it were up to me I would have wiped this namekian stain clean away._

Suppressing the urge to spit the handsome alien dipped closer to the ground trying to get a better look of his surroundings.

_That oalf Dodoria has been missing for days as well. Lord Frieza will have my head if we cannot locate another dragonball soon._

As Zarbon scanned the area he caught a glimpse of movement from the corner of his eye. Slowing his flight Zarbon turned his head making sure to he wasn’t being followed. Seeing nothing the alien narrowed his eyes doubting his senses.

_Must be not-_

“Tri-beam!”

An explosion of ki from above smashed into Zarbon’s back driving the second general of the Frieza Force into Namek’s dirt. Bits of ground and handfuls of dust scattered across the small island as Zarbon sunk deep into the man-made hole. Bursting out of the crater Zarbon glared in search of his attacker.

“Who dares?!”

Zarbon’s answer came as a disc of energy screaming through the air aimed at the alien’s head. Dodging to the left the disc streaked across Zarbon’s cheek cutting a thin gash. Placing a hand on the cut Zarbon was unprepared for the vicious strike that connected with his temple. The force of the punch threw the general out of the crater and onto his back.

“WHO DAR-”

Before the question could be asked two figures charged at Zarbon fists raised together. The two blows drove forward synchronized forcing the alien to use both hands to block and forcing Zarbon backward. The taller figure of the two followed up and engaged Zarbon head on his strikes precise and deadly. Vaulting over his companion the shorter figure threw a hard heel kick aimed at the general’s head. Again forced to use both hands to block Zarbon was left wide open for a sharp kick to tear into his exposed rib. Despite skidding backward from the strength of the strike even with his heels digging into the ground the alien regained his focus and rushed at his attackers. Landing softly on the palms of his taller ally the shorter stranger squatted down completely focused on Frieza’s general.

“Go!”

With a strong shout, the taller figure threw his companion at a greatly accelerated speed. Leading with two outstretched hands the small figure collided with the alien but Zarbon was prepared and caught the fists before they could do any damage. Showing a smirk the small warrior’s hands generated and expelled a jolt of electricity that ran up from Zarbon’s hands to his shoulder.

“W-what?”

Losing the feeling in his arms the limbs slumped down providing no protection from a vicious punch from the taller figure. The stranger’s fist carved into the side of Zarbon’s head again hitting the alien’s temple. Falling to his side Zarbon’s arms began to recover but not before the smaller figure threw another energy disc with a clear intent to kill. Leaping into the sky Zarbon avoided the attack and could feel the numbness in his limbs fade even more. Yet, avoiding the deadly disc had left Zarbon in the air, and exposed.

“Now!”

The shorter stranger shouted as the taller figure stepped forward and grunted before instantly growing two extra arms from his back. The two arms from the figure’s back came together to form a triangle while the figure’s original arms mimicked the action. An astonishing amount of energy was generated into both sets of hands and the tall stranger’s eyes opened wide completely focused on the alien general before screaming,

“Twin tri-beam!”

Two walls of ki erupted out of the figure. Mixing together and completely enveloping Zarbon whose only defense was a loud shout of rage before the energy collided with him. The blast’s impact sprayed out a devastating sphere of destruction vaporizing any mountain or rock formation nearby. The resulting explosion shook the ground and clouded Namek’s green sky with smoke.

* * *

 

“Did…did that work?” Tien asked panting for breath his extra arms slithering back within him.

“If he’s anything like Dodoria, no,” Krillin said still in a hard fighting stance. “But, I think that hurt him. It’s a good start.”

“Yeah…you’re right,” Tien said still trying to recover.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Tien said getting control of his breathing. “I’m just glad that it worked.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re on my side,” Krillin said with a smile Tien returned the compliment with a soft laugh.

The duo watched the dust cloud that encased Zarbon looking for any sign of movement.

“Are you sure he’s with Frieza?” Tien asked after a moment.

“…pretty sure.”

“Pretty sure? Krillin!”

“What? Cui mentioned Dodoria and someone else with the name Zar something. Plus Gohan said that Dodoria, Frieza, and another person with green hair attacked a namekian village. He’s clearly not a namekian and he has green hair so yes I’m pretty sure he’s working for Frieza.”

“I don’t think that’s a good enough reas-”

Before Tien could get another word out the alien general smashed onto the ground his once handsome face marked with blood and dirt.

“You two must have a death wish if you dare attack a general under the command of Lord Frieza!”

Krillin looked at his friend with a shrug only for Tien to roll his eyes in response.

“You’ll both be dust in mere moments but if you want your tombstones to have names you’ll tell me who you are.”

“Our names don’t matter,” Tien said stepping forward.

“Oh? Do you really plan to go to war with the Frieza Force nameless?” Zarbon said with a hard laugh. “By attacking me you’ve given up your life. My lord commands a militia greater then you can comprehend. What can just the two of you do against an army spanning galaxies?”

“We’ll start, by killing you,” Krillin said joining Tien.

“Insignificant worm,” Zarbon spat. “I’ll make you chock on those words for the remaining seconds you are alive.”

“You ready?” Krillin whispered to his friend.

“He’s coming even if I’m not. Step one was to put him in the water right?”  

“The water behind us will do, I can finish him if you don’t y-”

“If I see an opening I’ll take it.” Tien said interrupting, “Don’t worry about me; we’re in this together.”

Krillin nodded but his attention shifted when he saw Zarbon charging at him.

“Solar flare!”

The light erupted from Tien and had an instant effect on the alien who slowed his charge to cover his eyes. Wasting no time Krillin generated another destructo disc and whipped it at Zarbon hunting for a quick end. Raising a hand and using his full power Zarbon shot a beam of energy in front of him. The disc cut into the beam but was overpowered and destroyed forcing Krillin and Tien to scatter. The two humans fired a burst of coordinated ki blasts some finding their mark and hitting hard. The rest were swiped away by the mighty general with a wave of his hand. Focusing on the monk Zarbon shot out at Krillin eager for blood. Preparing himself with a barrier Krillin flew at the alien with a hard shout. The clash rocked Namek as the two traded blows but with weight, height, and strength on his side, Zarbon began to push Krillin back.

“You think you can take on the Frieza force with this pathetic level of strength?”

Finding an opening Zarbon shot a heavy punch at Krillin’s exposed rib and smiled as he felt it connect. The alien’s fist crunched through the monk’s barrier which helped dull the pain but Krillin could still feel his insides twist. Zarbon tried to push his advantage but was suddenly tugged in the opposite direction. Turning around to see Tien gripping his cape Zarbon had no choice but to be pulled and thrown downward toward the water. Barely stopping himself before he fell into the cold sea Zarbon dashed back at at the three-eyed warrior.

“Tri-beam!”

Again Tien shot a powerful blast of ki at Zarbon engulfing the alien and pushing him down into the dark waters below. Crashing into the water Zarbon was completely submerged in the cold ocean giving Krillin the opportunity to rush to the edge of a nearby island while coating his hands with as much electricity as he could produce.

“Hurry!”

Following Tien’s command, the monk dove both hands into the water just as the alien came up for air. Locking eyes with the human Zarbon attempted to fire a blast of energy but was stopped as Krillin discharged the collected current. Namek’s ocean lit up as the electricity flowed into every part of the general’s body. The sea conducted the electricity smoothly allowing it to pass through Zarbon burning the alien and shocking him to his core. Pushing out another jolt Krillin ignored Zarbon’s screams and his own pain clenching his teeth as the backlash started. Finally, Krillin could endure no more stopping the technique and removing his hands from the water. Falling onto his butt while slowly catching his breath Krillin noticed his hands were sizzling but thankfully no new scars had been added.

“You okay?” Tien asked landing next to him.

The monk nodded once at his friend’s question still trying to compose himself. Tien offered a hand which Krillin took but winced a little his hands still tender from the discharge. The pair looked out at where Zarbon had fallen. The general had sunk low into the water at some point during the electric assault.

“I guess there was no need fo-”

Tien was cut off as a geyser of water shot upward a lone figure taking off into the sky. Their eyes adjusting to the speed Tien and Krillin could see that Zarbon was still alive but their attacks were being to wear him down. Still twitching as some strands of electricity coursed through Zarbon wore an expression of pure rage his armor was heavily damaged and various holes lined his once proud cape.

“YOU ABHORRENT CRETANS!” The alien screamed his fists tightening to point where they shook. “I will bathe in your blood!”

Wordlessly Krillin held up two fingers for Tien to see.

_Step two._

The three-eyed warrior nodded understanding the sign and charged at Zarbon full force. Reading himself with another barrier Krillin took a deep breath and joined his friend.

Losing his mind to anger the alien roared diving straight at Tien, this left him open to Krillin who placed both of his hands next to his head before shouting.

“Solar flare!”

Once more the light of the technique flashed against Zarbon’s eyes blinding him. With no defense to speak of Tien crashed his knee into the general’s face connecting with the blue-skinned nose snapping it in half. Coughing in pain Zarbon was again unprepared for Krillin to follow up with a heavy overhead smash that connected with the top of his skull. The alien was sent flying toward the ground and crashed headfirst into the dirt. Slowly and sluggishly the alien got to his feet his head swimming as the damage done was finally catching up to him. Looking skyward Zarbon saw Krillin and Tien charging toward him ready to continue the fight. The alien reached out with an outstretched hand and gripped his arm with his other hand to help aim.

“Die maggots!”

Zarbon screamed before unleashing a powerful beam of energy pumped with all of his strength. With no time to evade or counter-attack Krillin and Tien extended their barriers around them to form a sphere protecting them from the beam. The energy blast collided with the enhanced barrier shaking and cracking into the ball of ki. The contest of power ended as Zarbon pushed harder and extended his strength enough to puncture through the barrier. However, this gave Krillin and Tien enough time to separate and continue their rush flanking the alien from two different sides.

“Solar flare!”

Both humans shouted covering the alien with twin flashes of light. Immediately Zarbon recoiled, his eyes growing more and more sensitive to the technique every time it was used. Covering his face in pain Krillin and Tien flipped backward in synch to gain some distance.

“Special!” Krillin screamed as he placed two fingers on his forehead charging the technique he had stolen from Piccolo.

“Dodon!”  Tien yelled raising one finger above his head gathering his ki into a single point.

The two humans collected as much of their energy as they could while Zarbon staggered around searching for his sight.

His index finger shaking from the weight of the gathered ki Tien pointed directly at the alien. Krillin joined his friend placing his two fingers crackling with energy directly under the three-eyed warrior’s hand. The two sources of ki merged into the space between the fingers forming a sphere of energy radiating more strength than either human ever had. Zarbon shook his head hard and regained his focus only to direct it at the two earthlings. Reaching their absolute peak both Krillin and Tien let loose a roar that echoed across Namek.

“ **CANNON!** ”

The sphere of energy became a drill that erupted out streaking across the air. The recoil of the burst threw both humans back nearly knocking them over completely. The drill was composed of three threads of thick ki. Two strands swirled around the biggest thread as it flew like an arrow shot. Soaring faster than he could defend Zarbon felt his body crack, bend, and break open as the drill pierced through him and exploded out of his back. The gaping hole left by the attack spurted blue blood forcing the alien to one knee while his hand covered the wound the best he could.

“….you….vermin.” Zarbon coughed a thin strand of his blood rolling down his chin.

The humans didn’t respond as they were both hunched over gasping for air sweat pouring off of them in waves.

“How…is he still…alive?” Tien asked slowly, “Wasn’t that…his heart?”

“Maybe,” Krillin answered in measured gasps, “But…maybe…that’s not where his heart is placed…he is an alien…after all. Or…he could have…multiple…hearts….I don’t.…I’m tired. Should have gone…for the head.”

“We…can't keep this pace up, Krillin.”

“Just…a little more…he’s in…much worse shape. Catch your breath…and we’ll…go again.”

“Glad we….made plans…for this.” Tien said standing up as straight as he could.

“If we didn’t…we’d be dead.” Krillin said joining his friend.

Slowly breathing in and out the earthlings readied themselves.

“Okay, onto step thr-”

Krillin stopped cold as he sensed a surge of power coming directly above and behind Zarbon.

_No, no…not now._

Recognizing the overwhelming source of energy the monk began to shake losing control of his own body.

“Krillin?”

His name helped him gain control grasping his trembling hands and turning them into fists.

“Tien, he’s coming.”

“What are you-”

The three-eyed warrior’s question died as his own senses warned him of the looming threat.

“That power…that’s him?!”

“Yes, we don’t have much time.”

“Can we run?”

“He’s too fast we wouldn’t get far enough.”

“So what do we do?”

The monk paused his mind racing searching desperately for an answer.

“We have one chance, but you’ll have to follow my lead **exactly** okay? No matter what happens just trust me.”

“…I do.” Tien said with a nod.

 Krillin’s trembling resumed for a moment but breathing in slowly and softly helped the matter. “Okay, he’s here.”

* * *

 

_The absolute disgrace!_ Zarbon thought to himself trying to collect himself. _To allow these insects to push me this far!_

Without any ability to sense energy the blue-skinned alien was oblivious to presence directly behind him as he stood back up into his feet.

_Once I disintegrate these repulsive beasts I’ll have to use the healing cham-_

“General Zarbon.”

In an instant, the smooth cold voice that held his name reduced the proud general into a quivering mess.

 “I believe I ordered you to bring me a dragonball. Why then, have you chosen to disobey me?”

Slowly turning his head the back of his neck drenched in sweat and blood Zarbon locked eyes with the strongest creature on the planet. Floating in a small pod just a few inches off of the ground sat Lord Frieza, who was greatly displeased.

“L-lord Frieza!” Zarbon spit out taking a knee and bowing his head at the foot of his master’s pod. “I didn’t expe-”

“You kept me waiting,” Frieza said cutting down his general’s explanation. “I’m sure you are aware that a lack of patience is one of my few flaws.”

“Forgive me, my lord!” The alien said bowing even deeper. “I was in the middle of my search I swear!”

“Then you were doing a poor job.” The devilish looking monster said tapping the side of his head as if bored. “I gave you your orders some time ago. Now I find you on death’s door rolling around in the filth of this planet like a dog. Your failure to follow simple instructions has not amused me.”

“Please believe me Lor-”

 “Lord Frieza!”

Again the general was quickly interrupted but this time it was by Krillin who had taken a knee and mimicked Zarbon’s bow. Tien hesitated for a moment surprised at his friend’s actions but swiftly copied the bow trusting the monk knew what he was doing.

“It is a true honor to finally meet you!” Krillin said deepening his bow.

 “Oh? An honor you say?” Frieza said floating past his general to get a better look at the earthlings.

“Lord Frieza! They are the reason I have not returned with a dragonball! They attacked me without warning!” Zarbon said hastily still on one knee.

“Really?” The emperor said with a laugh, “They are the reason you’ve been delayed? Laughable Zarbon truly laughable,” Raising a finger already charging with enough energy to kill either human twice over Frieza smirked as he aimed at Krillin’s head. “If that is true then I shall deal with them myself.”

Krillin could feel the heat coming off of the concentrated energy even with his head looking at the ground.

“Lord Frieza! Please wait! We did attack this man but we had a good reason.”

“Really? Go on then I’d love to hear it.” The emperor said his voice growing sharp.

“We came to this planet in search of riches and believed your man to be the competition. We attacked and he did state that he was a general in your army but we didn’t believe him.”

“And why not?” Frieza said growing a bit bored.

“We have heard stories of your strength and power and those you lead in the Frieza Force, many have,” Krillin calmly stated trying his best to keep his voice even and clear. “In our travels, we have found some who brag of being in your ranks even when they clearly are not.”

“I am painfully aware of that,” Frieza said rolling his eyes. “What does that have to do with Zarbon?”

_Good glad that worked. If he really does have a big an army as Dodoria and Zarbon says then it’s a safe bet there are some pretenders. Now, one more lie._ Krillin thought to himself taking a deep breath. “The liars all have one thing in common my lord.” Slowly raising his head to look directly at the finger that could effortlessly kill him, “Like your general, they are laughably weak.”

For a long painful moment, Namek was silent. Waiting for his fate to be decided Krillin kept his eyes firmly focused on Frieza. Refusing to let the emperor’s overwhelming power get the better of him, after what felt like an eternity the energy that had been concentrated on Frieza’s fingertip faded.

“Did you hear that Zarbon? They called you weak!”

A cold laugh echoed throughout the battlefield as Frieza’s boredom was temporarily put on hold.

“T-they are filth Lord Frieza!” Zarbon said tripping over his words. “It would be better to dispose of them now!”

“Really? Do you really believe that?”

Floating back to his general the emperor looked down on the alien with a sneer.

“I-I do, my Lord you should ki-”

“And since when have I taken orders from you?”

Catching his tongue with his teeth Zarbon began to tremble before his master as he continued to bleed on himself and Namek’s ground.

“Look at yourself, a mighty general of the Frieza Force reduced to this. You call these strangers filth but it is clear they were winning before I arrived. So what does that make you?”

Leaning in closer to his general and using a cold tone of voice that carried death in its whispers Frieza said slowly. “You are losing my favor **Zarbon**.”

Without the words to save himself the alien general’s shaking grew worse.

 “Regardless,” Frieza said with a wave of his hand and turning back around to Krillin and Tien. “I cannot tolerate an attack against my men, misguided as it was. So, in the end, you two must die here.”

“Please wait my Lord!” The monk said growing desperate. “I overheard you mentioning something called a dragonball?”

“That…is correct,” Frieza said narrowing his eyes already wary of the monk’s knowledge.

“I believe we have found what you are looking for.” Turning toward Tien Krillin nodded once. “Bring Lord Frieza the orb we found in the village.”

The three-eyed warrior blinked in surprise unsure what his friend could be thinking.

“Are yo-”

“Yes! The orb! The one with four stars on it, bring it quickly!” Krillin snapped with enough force to make Tien move toward the hidden dragonballs.

“An orb?” Frieza said with some surprise.

“Yes my lord, a nearby village was protecting this treasure with their lives. We believed it to be of some value so we took it for ourselves. If this is the ‘dragonball’ you have been searching for then please accept it as our gift.”

“And where was this village?”

Krillin swallowed a large amount of saliva in his mouth and pointed in the direction of Tsuno’s village. “Over there my lord, but you’ll find no survivors, we killed them all.”

“…Zarbon.”

“Yes, Lord Frieza?”

“Have we sent any scouts in that direction?”

“No. I don’t believe so my lord.”

“Very well. Your story holds some water, ah! And your companion seems to have arrived just in time.”

Dripping wet from swimming in river Tien stood tall with the four-star dragonball.

“At last!” Frieza exclaimed curling a finger in Tien’s direction. The ball floated out of the tall human’s hands and made its way to the emperor’s side while Tien returned to his bow. “And with this, I have six!”

“I am glad we could be of service my lord,” Krillin said praying he didn’t just doom the universe.

“Indeed, it seems the two of you have succeeded where my own trusted general failed! This is quite the stain on your record Zarbon.”

“Y-yes my lord.” Zarbon answered shaking with fury.

“Is this the only dragonball you have acquired?” Frieza said his full attention focused on the small monk.

“I’m afraid so my lord,” Krillin said trying his hardest to not picture the one-star ball still at the bottom of the river. “There was only the one dragonball at the village.”

“A pity. Though I suppose it is only a matter of time before I have all seven. Then I can finally wish this putrid rock a fond farewell.” Frieza said with a cold sneer. “But before that, I suppose I must properly reward you two for your efforts.”

“Thank you, Lord Frieza!”

“My lord I must object!” Zarbon shouted his bleeding finally slowing down. “I believe they are lying to you!”

“Really Zarbon? Are you certain you are not just ashamed? You have been out-performed by simple bandits! Be grateful you still have a head to bark from.”

“Please my lord! Their story is too convenient and we know nothing about them. They could betray you!”

“My, my, Zarbon look how far you have fallen. These two must have gotten under your skin for you to be this desperate….Very well; I have come to my decision.”

Turning back to Krillin and Tien Frieza’s cold sneer grew into a wicked smile.

“Your reward will be a chance. Kill Zarbon and I shall name you both as the newest members of the Frieza Force. Fail, and you won’t be alive long enough to regret it.”

“What?!” The monk said breaking character.

“Are you not pleased with my offer?” Frieza said with a curious look.

“N-no my lord, of course not,” _Dammit!_ Krillin thought as his head started to swim his nerves finally getting the better of him.

“We accept your terms, my lord,” Tien said standing up. “Thank you for this opportunity.”

The monk looked at his friend for a moment before realizing that this was the only option they had if they were going to make it out alive.

“Ah he speaks!” said Frieza, “I was wondering if you let your shorter companion do all the talking.”

“With respect, he is better at it then I am.”

“So it seems,” Frieza said before turning back to his general floating away.

“Was this part of your plan?” Tien whispered to Krillin his eyes still tracking the mighty emperor.

“No. I was hoping our reward would be allowing us to leave with our lives. Then we could have come back for the other dragonball later.”

“Couldn’t this be a good thing?” Tien asked sliding into a fighting stance.

“How? Frieza could kill us on a whim at any moment.” Krillin said following his friend’s lead.

“Maybe, but if we win we’ll be closer to the other five dragonballs right?”

Krillin’s eyes grew wide as he realized that Tien was onto something. “It’ll dangerous Tien, one slip and we’re dead.”

“That isn’t anything new Krillin. This whole planet is dangerous,”

“…you’re right.”

“Of course I am, but first let’s focus on winning. Ready?”

“Yeah, we have to make this one count.”

Tien nodded and the pair of humans slid deeper into their fighting stances ready for the coming battle.

“This is also a chance for you Zarbon, your **last** chance.”

The blue-skinned alien’s shaking grew worse as his master’s words cut deep.

“You seem nervous Zarbon. Win this fight and return to my side. Lose and your bones will be food for the rodents. Am I understood?”

“Yes! Yes my lord!”

 “Good. Now it seems you still have a card you have yet to play. Frieza said his tone cold and dark. “I suggest you use it.”

Zarbon nodded somberly as he got back up on his feet. Bracing himself and glaring at the earthlings with hatred burning in his eyes a coy grin peeled across the alien’s face.

“I hope you’ve enjoyed this little dance of ours,” The once attractive general said as his energy level started to rise. “It’s been far too long since I’ve allowed myself to indulge in the more base pleasures of combat.”

_Wait…something’s different_. Krillin thought a small tear of sweat rolling down his head.

“But if there is anyone who deserves this fate it is you two!” Zarbon yelled straining to keep his own power under control.

With an inhuman scream, Zarbon’s muscles spasmed and bulged growing in girth and power. The handsome face of the Frieza’s Force general flattened and widened growing more frog-like in nature. Krillin reeled as he sensed the alien’s energy skyrocket as the transformation morphed the slim body into a built tank of brawn.  “I…will… **break you**!”

“Run!”

It was the only word the monk could get out before Zarbon descended upon the pair like a boot onto the ground. Without any time to prepare a barrier, Tien felt his spine bend as a full force kick hit him square in the stomach. Krillin was caught in a heavy clothesline that cut into his throat robbing him of air and strength. The punt sent the three-eyed warrior skidding across the battlefield while the monk slammed straight into the ground pain exploding throughout his entire body. Sneering gleefully Zarbon grabbed Krillin by the sides of his head before driving his own skull into the monk’s. A loud crack rang out followed by a scream of agony before the alien general reared his head back and jammed it back into the monk’s forehead. Again and again, Krillin felt his skull start to split as a splotch of blood grew in size with each head butt.

“GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

Zarbon paused in his assault as Tien lunged at him. Despite the human’s speed Tien was stopped cold as a quick backhand smashed against his face. Still holding Krillin’s head with one giant hand Zarbon rammed the two earthling’s heads together. With the three-eyed warrior momentarily stunned the alien beast grabbed him with his free hand. With both humans in his grasp Zarbon smashed them into the dirt breaking apart the very ground underneath them.

“Oh how delightful Zarbon!” Frieza cackled, “See what you can do when you apply yourself!”

Spurred on by the words of encouragement by his master the grotesque creature lifted the two men above his head. Still gripping their faces Zarbon smiled before smashing their heads together cracking them like eggs. Krillin yelled again as his head throbbed from the clash while Tien remained focused and fired a blast of ki point blank into the alien’s head. The energy washed over Zarbon but the alien general remained unaffected.

“You’ll have to do better than that.” Zarbon said through a toothy grin his voice transformed into a deep gravely tone.

Thinking quickly Krillin grabbed both of Zarbon’s thick arms and sent two jolts of electricity coursing through the limbs. Grunting as he lost his grip Zarbon could only watch as both Krillin and Tien leaped back up into the air hoping to gain some distance.

_He’s so much more powerful than before! What is this! Can all aliens transform like this? Dodoria didn’t and he had plenty of chances. Maybe it’s just him, regardless this is bad…this is really bad._ Krillin thought as a thin trail of blood slid down his head. _No…get a hold of yourself this isn’t the time to panic._

Looking at his friend the monk could see that Tien was just as shaken as he was. Locking eyes with the other human Krillin held up three fingers.

_Step three._

* * *

 

_“Let’s go over it one last time”_ Krillin had said to his friend as they hid behind a large rock waiting for Zarbon to get closer.

_“Got it,”_ Tien said with a firm nod.

_“We’ll engage him as best we can using the element of surprise. If we can put him down fast before anyone nearby notices then we’ll be in a good position.”_

_“It would be ideal but we shouldn’t bet on it.”_ Tien said slowly, _“Most likely he’ll be just as tough as Dodoria, maybe tougher. We should be expecting a hard fight. So there’s something I’d like to try as well. It could be enough to end this early.”_

_“A new move? It’s not like the evil containment wave is it?”_ Krillin asked.

_“No, but it’ll probably use a lot of energy.”_

_“Okay, that’ll be a good opener. We can’t afford to hold back here but if that doesn’t work we’ll move onto step one.”_

_“Put him in the water.”_

_“Yeah, if we can get him wet then master roshi’s technique will be able to do some real damage, but it might not be enough to kill him.”_

_“Then, step two.”_ Tien had said quickly checking on Zarbon’s location, “ _Combining our ki should be enough to pierce through his armor. If we can hit his heart or something else vital that’ll do it right?”_

_“…Maybe.”_

_“What’s wrong?”_

_Well… I think by that point we’ll be low on energy. If he’s still alive I’m worried we’ll be out of options by then.”_

_“Actually I think we have one more.”_ Reaching into his pocket Tien pulled out a small capsule. _“Korin gave this to me after I drank the Ultra Divine Water. It was supposed to be used against Vegeta but I didn’t get the chance.”_

_“What is it?”_ Krillin had asked.

_“A memento, and our last option.”_

(cut)

Tien nodded at Krillin’s signal before refocusing on the charging Zarbon who was already screaming more death threats.

_He’ll need an opening._ The monk thought wiping away the blood from his eyes.

Krillin generated a large amount of electricity into his palms feeling his energy crackle and snap around his hands. Thrusting out both hands Krillin discharged a blast of ki that collided with Zarbon and ensnared him in a cage of electricity. Thousands of volts bit and snapped at the general killing his charge.

“ **You think this will stop me?!** ”

Flexing his power the cage burst open freeing the alien and forcing Krillin to cut the power.

“ **You will suffer!** ”

Refusing to let Zarbon get any closer to his friend the monk charged forward, using the rest of his ki on a barrier. Engaging the massive fiend in the air Krillin shot a hard punch cleanly connecting against Zarbon’s head. However, the strike despite the power behind it was completely ineffective. Pushing through the fist as if it weren’t there the beast heaved a devastating blow colliding with the bottom of the monk’s chin. The view of Namek blurred as Krillin felt every bone in his body shake. With the monk stunned Zarbon slipped behind him and grappled the human in a firm bear hug. A wicked grin spreading across his face the general fell backward diving toward the ground the monk still in his clutches. Krillin struggled to free himself but no longer had the strength. Picking up speed and laughing all the way down Zarbon released his grip and separated himself from the monk. With no way to slow down, Krillin smashed into the hard ground breaking it apart and digging a deep crater. Lying in the center of the man-made hole with his gi in tatters Krillin slowly got back on his feet. Only to collapse onto his knees, the many blows to his head reducing the control over his body to near nothing.

_That…hurt._

A scream overhead brought the monk back to the present as an energy blast fell toward him blocking out the green sky of the planet. With no escape above or below Krillin jumped deeper into the dirt next to him digging into the ground with a ki blast of his own. The energy detonated right behind the monk burying him under the rubble.

With one nuisance out of the way, Zarbon searched the sky for Tien, only to find that the three-eyed warrior had disappeared.

“ **Damn pests!** ”

“Zarbon.”

The alien general’s blood ran cold as he turned toward his master a firm frown lying the emperor’s face.

“We need this planet intact you fool. Destroy this rock before we locate the last dragonball and I will have your head. Understood?”

“ **O-of course Lor** -”

Zarbon’s response was interrupted by a wave of dizziness his blood loss finally catching up to him. Slowly dropping down back onto the ground the alien general held his head trying to compose himself. Seeing an opening Tien rushed out from his hiding place a nearby boulder his hand gripping the capsule that held the last option. His thumb on top of the capsule’s head the three-eyed warrior lunged at the general ready to strike. Only for Zarbon to recover his focus and grab the human by the throat stopping his charge.

 “ **Foul!** ”

Raising Tien above his head and grabbing a leg with his other hand. Zarbon brought Tien down right on top on his knee. The bone snapped into Tien’s spine instantly breaking it in half and effectively crippling the human in one move. The pain was instant and explosive resulting in a horrific scream that echoed throughout the battlefield. Yet Tien’s grip on the capsule remained.

“ **Putrid!** ”

Whipping the three-eyed warrior into the ground and relishing in the clear agony that the earthling was feeling. Zarbon lay into Tien with a series of heavy punches all directed at his head. Yet his grip on the capsule remained.

“ **Disgusting!** ”

With every strike, Tien sank lower into the ground his nose bent at an odd angle and spurting blood. Yet his grip on the capsule remained.

“ **Vile!** ”

Anger dominated Zarbon. Every strike he threw at Tien contained more power but less focus preventing him from seeing the fire that still burned in the earthling’s eyes.

“ **FILTH!** ”

Driving one last punch with all of his weight and strength behind it Zarbon leaned in close to Tien ready to deliver the killing blow. Only for Tien to push the top of the capsule and thrust his hand forward. A small puff of smoke clouded the object as it appeared before it caught the alien general in the throat. Zarbon’s eyes went wide as he felt something cut into his neck stopping his fist inches from Tien’s head.

The three-eyed warrior wheezed his hand shaking trying to grip the handle of a small sword. Yajirobi’s katana.

The blade had pierced through the alien’s windpipe and Zarbon could feel a throatful of blood shoot up and out of his mouth. Staggering backward with the sword still lodged in him Zarbon trembled consumed by the excruciating pain.

“ **f-fil** …” Zarbon coughed out his hand shaking as he aimed it at the disabled human already collecting power. “ **Fil** -”

The alien attempted to fire a blast of energy but his power would not gather and as more and more blood pumped out of his gullet the body just shut down. Falling onto his back the alien general was dead before he hit the ground.

* * *

 

… _what happened?_

Krillin shook his head knocking off bits and pieces of rubble trying to a sense of his situation.

_I…I can’t sense Zarbon’s energy anymore. Did he do it?_

Crawling out of the crater Krillin looked around the battlefield only to see a fallen Tien with the corpse of Zarbon not far from him.

“Tien!” The monk yelled running over to his friend’s side.

Tien gasped for air having difficulty breathing. Krillin noticed that his back was twisted and bent in odd angles.

_His spine is broken. He can’t even answer me._

 “….Did you do it?” Krillin asked softly making sure that his friend understood the question.

The three-eyed warrior nodded and looked toward the boulder he had hid behind.

“Good, stay there for now we’ll-”

“Ah, so you survived as well. It seems Zarbon’s failure is complete then, how utterly disappointing.” Frieza said with a sigh. Smoothly cutting Krillin off as he floated toward the pair. “Though I suppose some form of congratulations are in order. Gruesome and unrefined as it was, this victory is yours.”

_Something tells me he didn’t expect or want us to win that fight._

“Thank you, my lord!” Krillin said kneeling down trying his best to play the part of a submissive servant. “It was an ho-”

“Yes, yes, of course, it was an honor,” Frieza said waving away the compliment. “I would have your name stranger.”

“M-my name?”

“You do have one, don’t you?”

“Yes my lord…it’s, Krillin” The monk admitted hoping this one truth would help mask the previous lies.

 “Hmm, what an interesting name,” Frieza said slowly, “I don’t think I’ve heard anything like it before.”

The monk held his tongue hoping the emperor didn’t pry any deeper into his history.

“Very well Krillin. You are now the newest member of the Frieza Force. I ask only one thing from you.”

 “Anything Lord Frieza.”

As the words left his mouth the dread Krillin had been feeling increased a hundred-fold. An all-encompassing pressure pushed down hard on the small monk digging into every sense he had. His breath stalled and he began to chock on nothing a small tremble running up and down his spine as he locked eyes with the endless void of death that was Frieza’s gaze.

“ **Follow my orders**. It is the same advice I gave Zarbon and if you fail as he did, you shall share his fate.”

The emperor’s pressure wrapped itself around Krillin’s throat preventing him from speaking. It was clear that if he did not answer now his life would be forfeit. Numbness grabbed the monk’s mind slowing his thoughts to the crawl. While the small tremble that wracked his body evolved into a hard shake.

_All or nothing._ Krillin’s mind spoke softly. _Believe the lie or die._

Letting the numbness consume him the monk could feel a familiar sensation wash over him. The cold numbness that encased him when he thought back on the six people he erased became his every feeling.

“Of course, my lord, your will is mine.” The monk said with a smile.

“Then let us see you prove it,” Frieza said pointing to Tien. “It seems your companion is having difficulty standing.”

“Yes my lord, his back is broken.”

“Hmm, what a pity,” Frieza said through narrow eyes. “Regardless, the Frieza Force cannot accommodate cripples. Kill him.”

The order was absolute and refusal was not possible. The full weight of the emperor’s power pushed down on the monk as he looked into his friend’s eyes. There was no hesitation. They couldn’t afford any. With a single movement, Krillin sent a burst of ki through his Tien’s heart ending his life.

 “Marvelous,” Frieza said with a thin smile. “For a moment I wondered if you would refuse.”

“N-never my lord,” Krillin said barely keeping his composure the pit of stomach burning with disgust, “I…I live to serve.”

“So it seems, you have proven your loyalty and have earned your place. We shall return to the ship where you will be healed and outfitted with proper armor, no more of those horrid garments. Once we have finished, your task will be to locate the last dragonball and Dodoria.”

Krillin stiffened but kept his voice calm and cool. “Dodoria my lord?”

“My other general, he has been gone far too long. His orders were clear as well. If he has failed then he is to be punished as well.”

_He doesn’t know that Dodoria is dead._ Krillin thought quickly. _I can use this._

“Forgive me my lord but what does Dodoria look like?”

“Oh…a pinkish…beast… You’d know him if you saw him, why?”

“I believe I saw someone matching that description fighting against a smaller man with spiky hair a few days ago,”

Frieza’s eyes narrowed sharply. “ **Vegeta**.”

“Yes my lord, that man killed Dodoria. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“The prince of the monkeys finally shows his head,” Frieza snapped. “He must have been the one spying on us yesterday. Damn him. Dodoria followed that monkey to his death. Did he have a dragonball with him?”

“I-I believe so my lord,” Krillin said his head spinning from the number of lies. “Forgive me I did not know how important the orb was and did not pursue him I don’t know where he is now.”

“That miserable insect could be anywhere on this planet.”

“I will hunt him down my lord. I swear.”

“Aren’t you an eager one?” Frieza said with a sly smile. “Regardless with Dodoria dead, we’ll need reinforcements to locate him. I suppose I will have to contact the Ginyu Force.”

“The Ginyu Force my lord?”

“A collection of imbeciles, though I cannot deny their strength and talents. You will meet them shortly. Come. Let us get you squared away on the ship, you look horrid.”

Frieza turned away with no intention to continue the conversation and flew off.

_I…I think I pulled it off. Not sure if he really believes what I’m saying but giving him the dragonball at least got me on his good side. Now just one more thing to do._

Taking this opportunity Krillin shoved a hand into his pocket and grabbed its contents before tossing them behind him. Once that was done he watched the boulder Tien had looked at in his final moments and nodded. Without another word, he took to the sky following his new master.

* * *

 

_“I don’t like it.”_ Krillin had said to Tien still finalizing their plans for the attack against Zarbon. _“It’s too risky.”_

_“We don’t really have a choice Krillin.”_ Tien had said still holding the capsule that contained Yajirobi’s sword. _“We’ll have to assume we won’t have enough energy to take him out if step two doesn’t work and this sword cut through Vegeta’s tail when he was a great ape. I’m sure it could do some damage.”_ Tien said

_“I don’t like that you’ll have to get so close to him. By then we’ll be low on energy and he’s stronger than us, we need to keep our distance.”_

_“It’s our last option.”_

Krillin sighed. _“Yes, yes you’re right, but. I need you to do something if we get to that point, just as a precaution.”_

_“What?”_

_“If we get to step three I’ll give you an opening. Long enough for you to hide and use the multi-form technique.”_

_“Why? I don’t understand.”_

_“It’s something I used against Dodoria. It’ll give you an out if things go wrong. If that copy dies it will hurt but at least you won’t lose your life.”_

_“That sounds doable, but won’t that split my power in half?”_

_“Yes, but you don’t need that much power to swing a sword.”_

_“I don’t know Krillin.”_

_“Look,”_ The monk said his tone grower firm. “ _We can’t plan for everything but we can make sure that all of our bases are covered. We’re only humans on a planet filled with super strong aliens. We’re outclassed here. We need to use every option we have to survive, alright?”_

* * *

 

_Looks like he was right._

The battlefield now dead silent with nothing but the remains of Zarbon laying on its side with Yajirobi’s sword still lodged in his throat, Tien believed it was safe to come out of hiding.

That was close. The three-eyed warrior thought to himself as he walked around the boulder. _Can’t believe it worked._

Wiping the small amount of blood from his mouth he had coughed up when his copy had died Tien made his way to Zarbon. The alien had died on his back his eyes still open in horror looking up at the green sky. Tien flinched but refused to look away.

_There was no honor in this. It was dirty, cowardly, and shameful._ Tien pulled out the small katana and swung off the blue blood with one fluid motion. _But it was necessary. Maybe Bulma will have some more capsules she can store this in back at the ship._

Taking a moment to sit down and catch his breath Tien looked toward the direction the monk had flown off in. Sensing his energy flying next to the overwhelming power of Frieza’s the earthling frowned.

_This Ginyu Force or whatever Frieza was talking about sounds like trouble. We finally got rid of Dodoria and Zarbon only for a new kind of enemy to show up, but you’ll be fine, right Krillin? You are our leader after all._

Pushing himself back onto his feet ready to leave Tien caught sight of a lone capsule lying on the ground.

_Wait…this is._

Picking it up he pushed the top button and a cloud of smoke covered his hand. As the smoke dissipated Tien recoiled as if he had been shot.

_Why would Krillin leave this here?_

Narrowing his eyes Tien thought hard.

_Frieza’s power is greater than I could have ever imagined and with new reinforcements coming we may be outnumbered as well.  Krillin knows that…_

As the realization dawned on him three-eyed warrior’s eyes grew wide. Slowly he began to put the pieces together.

_He knew I would see this. If he wanted to keep it away from Frieza he could have just dropped it into the ocean as they were flying or something…No he wants me to have it…Is he gambling on this to help take down Frieza? That’s crazy...but._

“You did say we have to use every option we have,” Tien said to himself. “I guess that even includes the bad ones.”

Tien took to the sky and started making the trip toward Gohan and Bulma to tell them what had transpired, still holding Yajirobi’s katana in one hand. While in the other he held a rice cooker with a seal carefully placed against the opening. Sealed deep inside the kitchen appliance fuming in rage sat Vegeta, the prince of all saiyans.

 


	11. Uneasy Allies

**Author’s Note: Hello everyone! Hope you are all well and enjoying the beginning of summer. This chapter isn’t as action-packed as the previous ones but it’s got some important setup as we continue on.**

**As always thank you all for reading and please, enjoy.**

* * *

 

_This was a bad idea._

Krillin thought to himself as he flew through the skies of Namek. The wind blasting through him causing him to wince, the cool air doing little to help his wounds. His clothes that had been so nicely restored by Tsuno were once again ripped into tears and cuts lining most of the threads. He could feel his mind swim after the numerous head butts Zarbon had delivered to him. Despite being able to sense Tien behind the boulder he still feared for his friend’s safety hoping that the pain he caused at killing his copy wasn’t too severe. Yet all these problems paled in comparison to the monster in front of him. Soaring at a blistering pace the emperor of death led the way his overwhelming presence stilling the monk’s breath.

_He’s terrifying. Even with his back turned toward me attacking him now would get me killed in an instant. I’ll have to bide my time and find a way to escape with the dragonballs._

Krillin couldn’t stop a shiver crawl through him as he thought of all the different ways Frieza could erase him if his lies were discovered.

_This was a really bad idea._

“Your name, Krillin was it?” Frieza said his voice cutting through the air as if it weren’t there. “I don’t think I’ve heard of its like before, where were you born?”

“A small planet far from here my lord, I’m sure you’ve never heard of it,” Krillin said quickly trying to avoid giving away to much.

“Why don’t you tell me anyway,” Frieza said his head turning slightly toward the small human. “I’m curious.”

The thought of Frieza learning Earth’s name had the monk’s blood run cold. _Have to think of another planet._

“S-Saturn, my lord.”

“Saturn?... Hmm, I haven’t heard of that one. It must truly be insignificant.”

“Yes my lord, I left it behind years ago.”

“A drifter then, was your planet too small for you?”

“Too weak, my lord.”

“Interesting, though I hope you realize you will not be leaving my service as easily.”

“I-I wouldn’t dream of it!”

“…I suppose we shall see. We’re here.”

Directly below them lay a giant spaceship parked on a small island. Shaped like a hermit crab with multiple legs supporting itself; the majority of the craft was colored white with two stripes of brown covering its side. One window on its front offered a grand view of Namek while multiple smaller ones circled the outside. The great ship had an entranceway on the top of its dome a hole where you could see in the inside of the craft. It was easily bigger than the small namekian ship the monk had arrived on and the small pods he had seen Vegeta use.

“Wow,” Krillin said softly forgetting himself for a moment.

“Yes, yes it is quite impressive,” Frieza said rolling his eyes “Come along now, we don’t have time to gawk.”

Following his masters lead, Krillin descended through the giant hole on the top. Landing inside the ship offered the monk a good look at the inner workings of the spacecraft. A long hallway stretched out in front of him before it turned circling around the length of the ship. Various doors lined the walls, though they remained closed leaving Krillin with no clue of what was inside.

“Lord Frieza!”

Turning his head to the voice Krillin saw a new type of alien approach the tyrant. Far smaller than Zarbon or Dodoria a purple colored soldier with yellow spots running along an enlarged skull rushed to Frieza before bowing deeply.

“Welcome back my lord!”

“Ah Appule, I was wondering where you had scurried off to.”

“Yes my lord, I have been keeping guard over the ship.”

“Of course you have,” Frieza said dryly.

“I-I’m sorry to say that General Zarbon still has not returned and there is no word from General Dodoria either.”

“They will no longer be joining us Appule. It is better you forget them.”

“Really? What h-happened my lord?”

“They failed, and you know what happens to failures.”

“Y-yes of course my lord! Of co-”

The alien’s stopped when he noticed Krillin by his master’s side. The alien leapt back to his feet in an amateurish fighting stance.

“My lord! An intruder!”

Appule rushed Krillin with a fist raised ready to fight. Yet without a scouter, there was no way the alien could know how outmatched he really was.

_He’s weak, and unfortunately for him, I can’t afford to be gentle._

The monk caught the slow-moving punch with one hand and caved the purple’s creature’s ribs in with a hard punt. The force of the kick hurled Appule and flattened him against the wall. Holding the back of his head in pain the alien was too slow to notice Krillin’s palm aimed directly at him.

“Oh Appule, always the fool,” Frieza said with a light sigh. “This is Krillin; it is thanks to his efforts I have obtained another one of these dragonballs.  He is the newest member of the Frieza Force and as of now, he outranks you.”

“Outra-but my lord I-”

“If you disagree,” Frieza cut in smoothly. “You are welcome to take it up with him.”

The monk understood the emperor’s meaning and started gathering the rest of his energy into his palm. Though he was still exhausted from the fight with Zarbon the ki he had collected would be more than enough to vaporize the small alien.

“Aaah n…no! My lord, I…I understand.”

“Wonderful! Show him to the healing chamber he’ll need it to restore his strength. After that give him some new battle armor, understood?”

“Yes my lord,” Appule said as he picked himself up.

“Now then Krillin, once you have cleaned yourself join me in my chambers I would have you tell me where you last saw that swine Vegeta.”

_Good some time to think._

“Of course my lord,” The monk said with a bow.

“Good, run along now. Your rags are beginning to smell.”

With that, the tyrant floated away in his pod the dragonball Krillin had given him still in his clutches.

“Come along…sir,” Appule said slowly.

Wordlessly Krillin started to follow the limping alien but still had his eyes on Frieza.

_His chambers, that’s probably where the other dragonballs are. I’ll have to figure out a way to sneak them off the ship and get back to the others._

Looking around the ship the monk was again impressed by the size of the craft.

_Bulma would probably have a field day here. Shame she’s not here to see this._

“just a..lucky shot..”

Krillin picked up on the tail end of Appule’s mutters. The purple alien was saying something under his breath to no one in particular.

_Something tells me this guy gets the short end of the stick a lot, though maybe he could help me a little._

“You, underling,” Krillin said slowly trying to sound as threatening as he could.

“Ah! Yes sir!” Appule said snapping to attention hoping the monk hadn’t overheard him.

“Are there any scouters on board?”

“N-no sir, the namekians destroyed them all. We’ve been flying blind for a few days now.”

 “I see, aside from you and Lord Frieza who is left to help search for the dragonball?”

“Well if General Zarbon and General Dodoria are gone then that would just leave Sui and Banan but they’re probably dead too.”

“Probably,” Krillin said slowly. “So there’s no one left.”

“Not on Namek. Perhaps Lord Frieza will send out a request for reinforcements, though I don’t know who that would be.”

_Looks like we were right about the scouters and they’re running out of soldiers. Though that does leave the question,_ “What do you know about the Ginyu Force?”

“The Ginyu Force?!” Appule said unable to hold back his excitement, “They’re only Lord Frieza’s finest soldiers!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! They’re an elite task force that can take on any mission! I’m surprised you haven’t heard of them.”

“I was born on a distant planet. Besides, Lord Frieza is the only one who matters to me. How many are there?”

“Oh uh, 5. There’s Guldo, Recoome, Burter, Jeice and Captain Ginyu.”

“And they’re strong?”

“Yes sir, even better then Zarbon or Dodoria, not as strong as Lord Frieza of course, but all of them are powerful, especially Captain Ginyu.”

“Good.” _Not good._ Krillin thought to himself. _The only reason we were able to get rid of Zarbon is that we had numbers on our side. What are we supposed to do against 5 of Frieza’s best?_

“Here we are, sir.”

The monk regained his senses as Appule stood in front of a door that slid open on its own. The pair walked into a room though simple in design seemed to be built around a single chamber in the center. The main component of the chamber was a see-through glass globe held in place by a white platform. A large nozzle attached to the ceiling was placed on top of the globe with various wires also connected to various points in the room.

“This is the healing chamber?” Krillin asked trying to get a sense of how this technology worked.

“You’ve never seen one? Wow, you really aren’t from around here,” Appule said walking over to a nearby console. “They’re also called healing pods and medical machines but they all work the same. Every large ship in the Frieza Fleet has one.” The glass globe opened up as Appule start pushing buttons on the console. “You get in, put on the breathing tube, and let the liquid do the rest.”

“Liquid?”

“It heals you and I’ll keep track of your vitals from out here so nothing goes wrong.”

 “Alright,” Krillin said stepping into the chamber. _Don’t like being at the mercy of this thing but I’m not in the position to refuse._

Finding the breathing tube easily enough the monk strapped it onto his head and gave Appule a short nod. Pushing some more buttons open up the nozzle overhead and a blue liquid poured itself onto Krillin’s back and shoulders. As the liquid filled the tank a blissful soothing sensation washed over him. His wounds started to feel better and the tension he felt while close to Frieza began to unwind.

“This will take at least a day to complete,” Appule said his voice coming in through a small speaker. “You may as well get some rest sir; Lord Frieza will probably put us to work once you’re up.”

Krillin nodded but his mind was racing, _A day? That’s longer then I hoped but the more we can stall the bet-_

_WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU DOING?!_

The shout echoed in his mind causing the monk to chock on his own breathing. Bubbles streamed out of the breathing tube and floated to the top of the chamber.

“Sir, are you alright?” Appule asked, “Your vitals just spiked.”

Krillin nodded again this time with a little more force.

_K…King Kai?_

_Of course, it’s me you fool! Who else is going to talk you like this? I decided to check up on you and this is where I find you? What do you think you’re doing?! Do you know who you’re dealing with here?!_

_I know King Kai I know._ Krillin thought a little calmer now that he recognized the voice in his head,

_Do you? Frieza isn’t someone you can take lightly. You should have gone home as soon as you learned he was on the planet._

_Our ship was destroyed when we got here._

_Then you should have found another way to leave!_

_King Kai, we can’t leave, not without at least trying to bring everyone back._

_Honestly,_ King Kai sighed. _You’re just as bad as Goku._

_Goku? You’ve spoken to him? How close is he to Namek?_

_About two days give or take._

_Two? I must have lost track of time here. This planet doesn’t have a sun to track. Still, that’s good to hear._

_Maybe not, once he learned about Frieza the only thing he can think about is fighting him._

_He wants to fight Frieza?_ Krillin sputtered. _There’s no way he can win!_

_Well, maybe you can convince him not to because the only thing I did was make him train harder._

_Great._

_Hold on, there’s someone else who wants to talk to you._

_Someone else? King Kai wh-_

_Hey Krillin._

At that moment hearing the voice that carried his name the monk could feel himself go back to the day the saiyans attacked. Back to when he watched the light dim in his friend’s eyes and his life fade, the friend whose only wish was to be free.

_Y-Yamcha._

_Yeah, it’s me. Looks like you got yourself in another crazy situation huh?_

_I…I guess I did. You’re with King Kai now?_

_Well, I’m here with Chiaotzu, Yajirobi, and Piccolo as well. We made the trip on Snake Way just like Goku did. Probably would have gotten here faster but I had to carry Yajirobi._

_Snake Way?_

_It’s a path that leads from King Yemma’s palace to King Kai’s planet._

_……you lost me._

_It’s a little confusing but the important thing is that we’re training, and at this rate, we’ll be so strong you won’t even recognize us._

_That’s good._ Krillin said though he was unable to hide his doubt.

_…this Frieza guy. Is he really that dangerous?_

_Yes…more then you can imagine._

_What are you going to do?_

_Get the dragonballs and wait for Goku. Not much I can do by myself._

_Are you going to fight Frieza?_

_I don’t want to. If we were smart about it we would just try to make our wish and leave but I think it’s too late. Goku wants to fight of course and he is training as well. But he may not be good enough to win._

_What if you had some backup? What if we could come to Namek too?_

_What? How?_

_We’ve been making plans of our own over here,_ Yamcha said smugly. _We asked King Kai if he knows anything else about Namek anything we can use to help you guys. Turns out the dragon there is much more powerful then Shenron, they can actually grant three wishes._

_Three?!_

“Sir your vitals spiked again!”

Krillin waved Appule down. _Three wishes? Are you sure?_

_Yeah, but things work a little differently with the Namekian dragon. They can only bring one person back to life at a time._

_How does King Kai know all this?_

_Because I’m King Kai!_ The raspy voice of the kai blurted out butting into the conversation. _I’ve kept my eye on Namek ever since the dragonballs were first formed there!_

_So you can use the first wish to bring back Piccolo. That’ll bring back Kami and Shenron, right?_ Yamcha said cutting back in.

_That’s the theory._

_Well after that you could use another wish to bring all of us to Namek._

_Hmm, that would work for Piccolo but you guys would still be dead right? Can the dragon do that?_

_No, but he can if we use our one day of life._

_What?_

_Don’t you remember? When Goku’s grandfather fought with him at Baba’s palace she brought him back to life for one day. If she does that for us then-_

_You can come to Namek._

_What do you think? Is that something we should try?_

_……what happens if you die again?_ Krillin asked slowly,

Yamcha paused.

_Yamcha, if you die during your one day of life. What happens?_

_...then we don’t come back, even with the dragonballs._

For a long, long time Krillin said nothing. The soothing liquid that had completely submerged him did nothing to help lift the great weight he felt on his shoulders. _Yamcha…I…I don’t know._

_Just think about it Krillin. We’re all rooting for you guys over here but we want to be in this fight too._

_…okay._

_Good, I mean I’m just trying to show off how strong I’ve gotten, can’t do that from here._

_Yeah,_ the monk said with a soft laugh.

_Whelp, time to get back to training, King Kai runs a pretty tight ship around here._

_Wait, Yamcha before you go. I’m sorry, about how things turned out on Earth._

_Don’t be._ Yamcha said sternly, _it was my choice I don’t blame you, same goes for everyone else here. Besides if anyone can get us home it’s you Krillin._

_Thank you, I will. I promise._

_Good luck._

Soon Yamcha’s voice faded from the monk’s mind.

_King Kai, are you still there?_

_Yes, and I think this is a terrible idea. You should avoid Frieza at all costs!_

_We may have lost that chance, can you tell the others about Yamcha’s plan? We should all be on the same page._

_Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you!_

Finally left alone floating in a sea of healing liquid Krillin couldn’t help but notice how heavy his eyes felt.

_The last time I really slept was after the fight with Dodoria. Guess this is the best chance at rest I’ll get._

Closing his eyes Krillin allow his exhaustion to grab hold and he could feel his consciousness slip into a blissful sleep.

_Wonder how the others are doing._

* * *

 

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!”

Bulma’s scream carried across Namek forcing both Gohan and Tien to cover their ears.

“Not only did you lose Krillin after we just found him now you want to release Vegeta?! Have you been hit in the head too many times?”

“I know how it sounds,” Tien said the ringing in his ears slowly fading. “But we aren’t in a good position right now. Whoever this Ginyu Force is chances are they are going to outnumber us when they arrive. Even if they don’t there’s no way we’re capable of going against Frieza.”

“So your plan is to join forces with the guy who wanted to blow up the Earth?”

“I don’t like it any more than you do. If it were up to me this wouldn’t be a discussion, but it’s not. If we allow Frieza get the last dragonball then the entire universe is at risk. This fight, it’s bigger than me and it’s bigger than him. Krillin showed me that.”

Bulma grew quiet.

“You know I’m the last person who would want this. So you have to believe me, this is the best worst idea we’ve got.”

“….fine,” Bulma walked back to the namekian ship her arms crossed still fuming. “At least wait until after we eat, if we’re going to be killed by a crazed saiyan prince at least we’ll have something in our stomachs.”

Tien let out a sigh and joined her. _Hard part’s over._

“Is this one alright Mrs. Bulma?” Gohan asked pointing to one of the spikes on top of the spacecraft.

“Yeah that’s great Gohan; make sure you cut it close to the base, the bigger the better.”

The half-saiyan nodded before taking off into the air and formed a small disc in his hand. With one clean swipe, he cut off the large spike which fell to the ground with a loud thud.

“Perfect! I’ll need at least two more just like this.”

“Got it!” Gohan said before continuing his work.

“What are you doing?” Tien asked his curiosity getting the better of him.

“What I can,” Bulma said reaching into a nearby knapsack and pulling out two energy bars. “After the Grand Elder did that potential thing my brain’s filled with new ideas,” The young genius threw one of the bars to Tien who caught it with ease. “I can’t be on the front lines with you guys so I’ll have to support you from here. I can’t fix the ship with the few tools we have but I should be able to turn it into something else.”

“What exactly?”

Bulma smiled, “It’s a-”

_Ahem!_

The blue-haired genius stopped as a voice spoke to everyone in the group.

_Sorry to interrupt, but I have important news._

“King Kai? Is that you?” Bulma asked looking up into the green namekian sky.

_Of course, it is! Who else speaks to you like this? You humans ask the worst questions._

“Mrs. Bulma, can you hear the voice too?” Gohan said pausing in his work.

“Yes Gohan, that’s just King Kai. Goku told you about him remember? He’s the one who trained your dad in the other world.”

“Oh right, the one with the bad jokes.”

_Bad jokes?! How dare you! I am a master of hu-_

“What’s the news King Kai,” Tien said smoothly interrupting.

_Ah yes, I’ve spoken to Krillin he is safe at the moment._

“Thank goodness,” Bulma said allowing herself to relax.

_I’ve also got Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Yajirobi, and Piccolo here. I’m training them as well speak._

“Chiaotzu? He’s safe?”

_He is, they are making excellent progress, even faster than Goku did when he was here. I’ll let you speak to them in a moment but first I have to tell you the plan._

No one interrupted King Kai as he spoke. Allowing the kai to explain everything Krillin and Yamcha had discussed as well as the details regarding the Ginyu Force the monk had discovered.

 “So everyone can come here? To Namek?”

_Yes, as long as you get all the dragonballs and summon the dragon before Frieza does._

“With everyone here, we’d stand a much better chance of winning that’s for sure. But we only have one dragonball right now.”

_You have more problems than that the Ginyu Force is on their way they’ll be here in at least a day._

“And Goku is still two days away,” Bulma said, “Even if you release Vegeta and get him to help that’s still just four of you guys against five of them.”

“…there’s one more person who can help us,” Tien said slowly. “The Grand Elder’s bodyguard Nail.”

“Do you think he will?” Bulma said. “He wasn’t exactly our biggest fan the last time we saw him.”

“If he learns about the coming danger maybe he’ll change his mind, we have to try at least.”

“Are you going to have enough time? The Grand Elder’s place isn’t exactly close by and you’ll have your hands full with Vegeta.”

The three-eyed human paused.

“Can I go?” Bulma and Tien turned to Gohan who landed in front of them holding two other spikes from the ship. “Mr. Nail didn’t get mad until I did something, what if I apologize? Maybe then he’ll want to help.”

“Are you sure Gohan?” Bulma asked carefully.

“Yeah, I’m not scared anymore. I want to help.”

“…Tien, what do you think?”

The three-eyed human said nothing while weighing his options. _Krillin wants him to avoid fighting as much as possible. This might be better than letting him see Vegeta again._ “You know the way?”

“Yes.”

Alright, but be car-”

“Careful, I know Mr. Tien.” The half-saiyan said dropping off the spikes.

“Hold on a second Gohan.”

Bulma handed the young boy the second energy bar. “Make sure you eat something on the way there.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Bulma,” Gohan smiled.

And with that, the son of Goku jetted off in the direction of the Grand Elder’s house.

“Guess I should get back to work.” Bulma said rolling her neck and walking up to the namekian ship, “I’d apprentice it if you don’t release Vegeta here. I don’t need the ship even more destroyed then it already is.”

“Fine,” Tien said taking a bite out of his energy bar.

“…you going to be okay?”

“Krillin took a big risk for us. I wouldn’t be able to look him in the eye if I didn’t try just as hard.”

“Sure, but the last time you fought Vegeta it didn’t go well for you.”

“Wasn’t really in control of myself back then hoping it’ll be different now. Plus I’ve got my other arm back.”

“Okay…be careful.”

“…I will.”

Tien took off on his own the capsule he had received from Krillin still in his pocket.

“King Kai are you still there?”

_Yes, I’m here._

“Tell Chiaotzu I hope his training is going well.”

_You don’t want to speak to him?_

“I’d rather see him in person, and I will very soon. We’ll get them home.”

_I understand, good luck._

* * *

 

_This should do._

Landing on a small patch of land Tien fished for the capsule and pulled it out. Pushing the button on top created a puff of smoke before the rice cooker fell onto the ground. The kitchen appliance still had the charm attached to it. Other than that it still appeared to be an ordinary rice cooker. Yet it contained the saiyan who had threatened the lives of every living creature on the planet Earth.

_I wonder if this is how Krillin feels, always making decisions with no good answer and with everything to lose. It was easy to be angry at him when I wasn’t making the decisions but now, I don’t envy his position._

Tien kneeled down and gripped the top of the rice cooker.

_If Krillin thinks this is for the best then I should trust him…right?_

 Lifting the lid of the rice cooker unleashed a burst of light that blinded the three-eyed human momentarily. That moment was the opening needed for a vicious punch to tear into Tien’s stomach and blow him backward. Coughing up a bit of stomach fluid and energy bar Tien clutched his stomach in pain and looked up, his eyes recovering their sight. Standing tall seething in rage stood Vegeta the prince of all saiyans. Glaring at the rice cooker that had imprisoned him the saiyan wasted no time in shooting a ki blast at the cooking tool reducing it to ash.

“Vegeta wa-”

Uninterested in whatever the human had to say the prince blasted forward his anger in complete control. Without any time to waste Tien had to prepare for battle.

_Figured it would come to this._

The human blocked a full-powered kick that smashed itself against his side. The force from the blow pushed Tien but he kept his balance giving him an opening for a counter attack. Striking out with his newly grown right hand surprised Vegeta enough for the fist to connect with the saiyan’s jaw. Taking advantage of the strike Tien pushed forward looking for a way to end this fight quickly. However, the punch only served to reenergize Vegeta who met the three-eyed human head on. Their clash sent out a blast of wind that broke apart the ground underneath them and sent out waves of green water crashing against the island.

“Trapping me in there is going to cost you your life human!” Vegeta snarled.

“If I didn’t you would have killed us!”

In an explosion of power, the saiyan prince threw Tien back before shooting a ki blast at point blank range. Crossing both arms and coating himself in a barrier was enough to live through the attack but left Tien on the defensive. Vegeta tore through the human’s guard and shoved a hard elbow into his opponent’s temple. The attack stole Tien’s footing and he fell onto his back. Vegeta leaped into the air diving forward ready to push his assault.

“Tri-beam!”

The prince didn’t know he had been baited until the wall of ki smashed into him and launched him upward. With a grunt, Vegeta shoved off the ki attack only to realize he has lost track of the human. Closing his eyes the saiyan reached out with his senses searching for Tien. A warning blared in his head telling him his opponent was directly behind him. Whirling around with a dense ball of energy already in his hand Vegeta unleashed a torrent of ki that vaporized everything in its way, including Tien. Watching the ashes of the human flutter through the air brought a small smirk to the saiyan prince’s lips, but that faded when he felt the cold steel of a katana softly place itself on his shoulder.

“That probably wouldn’t have worked if you were at your best,” Tien said slowly. “But I guess being trapped in a rice cooker would dull anyone’s senses.”

Ignoring the blade pressed against his neck Vegeta spun around to face his enemy ready to kill. Yet he was stopped as Tien repositioned Yajirobi’s blade underneath his chin.

“This sword cut through your tail as a great ape. Move again and it’ll do the same to your head.”

“It’ll be the last thing you ever do.” The saiyan prince spat.

Tien looked down to see Vegeta had both hands aimed at him overflowing with ki energy.

“…I was given this sword to kill you with it. Wasn’t expecting to see you on Namek but last time we met it was all I could think about.” Slowly Tien lowered Yajirobi’s sword. “But I didn’t come here for a fight this time…we need your help.”

The laugh started off slow but soon the howl echoed throughout Namek.

“Help you? You, humans, you are as stupid as you are weak!” Vegeta said shoving his ki clocked hand into Tien’s face. “As far as last words go those are a poor choice, why would I ever help you?”

“Because Frieza has 6 of the 7 dragonballs.”

The news shook Vegeta enough for him to lower his arm and let his energy fade.

“You imbeciles! How could let this happen?! How long did you keep me trapped in there?!”

“Four days.”

“I should kill you for that!” The saiyan screamed his fists shaking in anger.

“If you do, you’ll never find the last dragonball. Or do you think you could find it? You’d have to scour the entire planet.”

As angry as he was Vegeta understood that he was at a disadvantage. Unwilling to let go of his hate but unable to kill the human at the moment the saiyan prince settled for a pride-filled glare.

“There’s another reason I released you,” Tien said matching Vegeta’s glare with one of his own.

“Frieza has called for reinforcements.”

“What for? Zarbon and Dodoria should be all the help he needs.”

“They’re dead.”

The saiyan prince’s laugh returned.

“I forgot how you humans enjoy twisting the truth!” Vegeta said with a grin, “As if you ever stood a chance against those two!”

The laugh carried itself far but as time passed and Tien remained quiet it quietly died. Still doubting the three-eyed human’s words Vegeta scanned as much of Namek as he could with his senses. Searching for the powerful ki signatures of Frieza’s generals, he didn’t find them.

“…they were not yours to kill,” Vegeta snarled.

“Sorry, you were busy.”

A blood vein bulged across the saiyan prince’s forehead.

“Regardless, with Dodoria and Zarbon gone Frieza has called in a group named the Ginyu Force.”

“What?! The Ginyu Force is coming here?!”

“Yes, there are five of them right? That’s why we need your help.”

“Help? It doesn’t how much help you get. Zarbon and Dodoria don’t even compare to their power!”

“So what you suggest? That we just hide?”

“We can’t you idiot! They’ll arrive with the latest scouter model! They’ll be able to track our location!”

Tien grew quiet realizing that their situation was much worse than he had thought.

“We only have one chance,” Vegeta said slowly. “We’ll have to use the dragonballs to make me immortal.”

“You think we’d let you?”

“I won’t hurt you or your friends I swear but this is the only way we stand a chance!”

“…it’s not my call to make.”

“What?”

“You’ll have to ask Krillin.”

“Your so-called leader,” Vegeta spat. “Surprised he’s still alive.”

“He’s more than alive; he’s infiltrated Frieza’s ship.”

“WHAT?”

“It was our best shot at getting the rest of the dragonballs. We think he’s gained Frieza’s trust for now but who knows for how long.”

“Do you really think Frieza’s been fooled by that tiny human?”

“He fooled you didn’t he?”

The blood vain reappeared on Vegeta’s head as he crossed his arms, “Frieza will see through him it’s only a matter of time.”

“Then we’ll have to rescue him.”

“And how do you propose we do that human?”

“Unfortunately, together. That is if you want your wish.”

Vegeta grunted but didn’t refuse.

“We’ll regroup with Bulma and come up with a plan.”

“Another human,” Vegeta scoffed. “I should have wiped out your pathetic planet when I had the chance.”

“You tried. We stopped you.”

Without waiting for a response Tien took off, leading the way back to the namekian ship with a reluctant Vegeta following close behind.

 


	12. The Dragonball Heist

**Author’s Note: Getting this chapter out a few days later than I would have liked but that’s the problem with plans. They usually don’t work. I am very excited that we are getting into the bigger conflicts of Namek which are just around the corner. It’s been a long time coming but the pieces are falling into place and I can’t wait to share how they land. Thank you all for reading I hope everyone is doing well and as always please, enjoy.**

* * *

  _There it is._

Closing in on the Grand Elder’s house brought some relief to the young half-saiyan. He had been flying for some time and he was eager to set foot on the ground. As soon as he had Gohan hid himself the best he could and quickly scanned the open sky to see if he had been followed.

_Can’t sense anything, doesn’t look like anyone followed me this time._

Letting out a small breath he had been holding Gohan finished up the energy bar he had been munching on before stuffing the garbage into his pocket. The young boy then sized up the small house looking for the entrance.

_Last time Mr. Nail opened the door for u-_

Unable to finish his thought as Gohan placed a hand on a portion of the house only for it to slide upward granting him access. Swallowing once Gohan looked around the small hut trying to see if anyone was home.

“Hello?”

The meek greeting appeared to fall on deaf ears as no one approached to answer the call.

_Come on Gohan you told Mr. Tien you weren’t scared anymore._

Making his way into the home the half-saiyan recalled that the Grand Elder sat on the second floor. Rising to the next level of the home Gohan started to feel conflicted and unsure if he should even be here.

“Is there nothing that can be done?”

The young boy recognized the voice as Nail’s and froze.

“We have prepared for this Nail,” The Grand Elder said slowly the strain in his voice easy to hear. “We knew this day would come eventually.”

“I know…it just…it’s not right. Why should we have to give up so much?”

“Our loss is someone’s gain we must take comfort in that. Nothing lasts forever my child. Not even Namek.”

Realizing he was intruding Gohan took a step back ready to leave but forgot about the hole directly behind him. Slipping through the half-saiyan let out a yelp of surprise falling back down to the first floor. He caught himself before he could hit the ground and landed on his feet.

_I wonder if they heard m-_

Gohan was unable to finish his thought as Nail touched down in front of him, his glare strong enough to cut.

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh…I’m sorry,” Gohan mumbled. “I wanted to apologize.”

“You are unwelcome here. Leave.”

“But we need your help.”

“What you need does not concern me. Lea-”

“Nail.”

The Grand Elder’s voice echoed throughout the hut instantly grabbing the attention of both the namekian and half-saiyan.

“Let us hear what the child has to say.”

“Grand Elder,” Nail started, a bit of panic in his voice. “You should focus on resting.”

“…There is little time for that.”

Nail grimaced and tried to think of an argument, but he couldn’t find the words. Turning away from Gohan the namekian floated back up to the second floor. It took the half-saiyan a moment to realize he was expected to follow.

“Welcome back young one.”

The Grand Elder’s greeting still filled the room and still enveloped Gohan with the power of his presence yet the boy could sense the weakened state the Grand Elder had been left in, his strength not quite hollow but not quite whole either. Flying back up to the Grand Elder’s chamber Gohan saw that the giant namekian was slumped further into his chair his vast age taking further control of his body.

“I’m glad you are in good health.” The Grand Elder wheezed.

“T-thank you, sir,” Gohan answered. ‘I wanted to apologize for last time. I didn’t mean to hurt you or anything.”

“Fear not child, you did nothing wrong. I was simply unprepared, awakening your power took its toll on me but there was no lasting damage.”

“O-okay,” Gohan said still unsure if the Grand Elder’s condition was his fault. “But you look-”

“Older?” The namekian said interrupting smoothly with a soft smile, “I was old, to begin with, young one.”

“Yeah but, you feel…weaker.”

The Grand Elder’s soft smile flickered but the mask remained. “That is because I am dying.”

“Dying? Is it because of Frieza?”

“There is no one to fault. My time is simply coming to an end.”

“Can we help?”

“No child, death is a part of life. There is no reason to fear it. We can only greet it as we are. ”

Gohan didn’t know how to respond and instead looked at the ground in shame. “I’m sorry.”

“There is no reason to be sorry young one. I have lived a full life but thank you nonetheless. Now it seemed you required our assistance in some way?”

“…yes. Strong people are coming and we were hoping Nail could help us fight them.”

“You need me to fight your battles?” Nail scoffed, “Unfortunately for you I am needed here.”

“So you can’t?” Gohan asked deflated.

“No, you will have to make do without me.”

“Young one,” The Grand Elder said. “How many dragonballs do you and your friends have in your possession?”

“Um, Mr. Tien said that Frieza surprised them and took every dragonball expect for one.”

“So that tyrant has six?” Nail snapped, “Grand Elder you shouldn’t have been so quick to trust these Earthlings.”

“I believe my judgment was sound Nail.” The Grand Elder said before closing his eyes and concentrating slightly. “Hmm, there are indeed several powerful energies approaching Namek at an alarming speed.”

“They’re called the Ginyu Force,” said Gohan. “There are five of them…but we may only have three people.”

“Are you including yourself in that count young one?” The Grand Elder asked.

“Yeah, I want to help.”

“Help you say. Who are you helping?”

“Who? I…I guess I’m helping Mr. Krillin, Mr. Tien, Mrs. Bulma, and everyone else. Like Mr. Piccolo.”

“You believe you can help them by fighting?”

“Y-yeah. I guess so. Just like Mr. Krillin.”

The Grand Elder paused as he looked at Gohan peering into the half-saiyan’s essence in a way only the giant namekian could.

“You hold a gentle soul Son Gohan.”

“Oh…thank you?”

“No matter what may come I hope you retain that quality. As once lost, it will be difficult to regain.” 

Despite his confusion, Gohan bowed slightly at what he believed was a compliment.

“Nail,” The Grand Elder continued, grabbing the full attention of his bodyguard. Who kneeled before the leader of Namek.

“Yes, Grand Elder?”

“Go with the little one. Aid the Earthlings in their fight.”

“What? No Grand Elder,” Nail said panic laced within his voice. “You need me here!”

“They have a greater need of you Nail.”

“But-”

“Porunga was created to help those that could not help themselves. If you remain with me that purpose may go unfulfilled. The dragonballs should be used for good. It is why they were made. Help them.”

“I…I do not want to leave you. Don’t make me go.”

The large hand of the Grand Elder’s reached out and placed itself on Nail’s head.

“Please my champion. This is my final request.”

Gritting his teeth and staying his tears Nail slowly stood up as the Grand Elder removed his hand.

“If that is your wish.”

The giant namekian nodded before turning toward the half-saiyan. “Son Gohan.”

“Y-yes?”

“Take care of your eagerness to help. Not all paths should be followed.”

The young boy blinked once and then bowed. Again little confused by the Grand Elder’s words but relieved that he had succeeded in getting help.

“…let us depart.” Nail said hopping down to the first level and prepared to leave with Gohan following close behind. Soon the half-saiyan and namekian took off into the sky flying back toward the namekian ship. Grand Elder watched the pair fly away still sitting in his chair and thinking deeply.

_Forgive me Krillin of Earth. In my attempts to help I have given more weight to your burden. The child holds a deep respect for you and he will no doubt try to save you as you try to save him. I can only hope the coming conflicts spare him the horrors of battle. If they do not, his rage may awaken his power. A power he will not be able to control, and that none may be able to stop._

* * *

The bickering had started almost immediately. He had assumed that the two of them wouldn’t get along but he didn’t think it would be this poorly.

“You are **insufferable**!” Bulma’s shout traveled far across Namek forcing Tien to cover his ears, though Vegeta hardly blinked at the scream. “All I asked was for you to hand me that wrench!”

“And I said was why would I waste my time following your orders woman?”

“To be helpful or something! You’re standing right there!” Bulma shouted pointing directly at the wrench by the prince’s feet.

“We are not allies in this fight,” Vegeta spat “Once the dragonballs are in my posses-”

“Then don’t help! Just get out of my way!” Bulma said stomping her way over to Vegeta and grabbing the tool off the ground. As she turned to leave Bulma shot a burning scowl at the saiyan before getting back to the namekian ship. The prince eyed Bulma over once more as she continued her work. The young genius was still cursing under her breath as she tightened a loose screw. During the hours where she had been left alone, she had transformed the ship into what was a weapon of some sort. She had taken bits and pieces of the ship to fasten her parts and had constructed two long pillars of metal that were jetting out of the front window of the ship that she had removed. It was obvious more work needed to be done but it seemed to be nearly complete.

_It’s amazing how much progress she’s made in such a short time._ Tien thought to himself. _Guess that boost from the Grand Elder helped._

“What is this contraption she is building?” Vegeta asked Tien taking him out of his thoughts.

“Why don’t you ask her?” Tien replied rolling his eyes.

Vegeta snorted but his curiosity got the better of him. “Woman! What is this thing?”

“As if I’d tell you, jerk!” Bulma fired back not even looking in the prince’s direction.

“Who does she think she is?” Vegeta said turning back to Tien.

The three-eyed human ignored the question. “Bulma can you stop for a minute? We need to come up with a way to get Krillin and the dragonballs back.”

“ **Fine**.” The blue-haired woman said as she put down her tools and made her way back to Tien and Vegeta. “Do you have any ideas so far?”

“Not really, Frieza said that he needed to go back to the ship to contact the Ginyu Force. So we know where they were going but where the ship is now I can’t tell.”

“You can’t sense them?” Bulma asked.

“Not from this far away.”

“So that’s a problem right off the bat.”

Both Tien and Bulma started to think but the brainstorming session was cut short as a deep laugh came out of Vegeta.

“You humans are even more hopeless then I thought,” The prince chuckled. “I see now why you were so desperate for my help.”

“Are you going to contribute or are you just going to stand there and laugh?” Bulma said with a snap.

Vegeta reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of technology that both Bulma and Tien instantly recognized.

“A scouter!” Tien said, “You still had one?”

“I only needed it to find Namek. Now that I can sense energy I no longer require it, though apparently, its range is still greater than our abilities at the moment.”

The prince put on the scouter and started to look around. The scouter started to beep widely as his sight set on one direction.

“There,” Vegeta said pointing to the East. “The scouters picked up Frieza’s energy in that direction. His ship should be there as well.”

“Good,” said Tien. “Now we just need to figure out to get way inside without getting noticed.”

“Wait. I think I’ve got something that could help,” Bulma said turning away and heading back to the namekian ship. Digging through the alien craft for a moment she reemerged and returned with a small watch in her hand.

“What is that?” asked Tien.

“It’s called a microband it’s something I invented when I was younger. I lent it to Master Roshi a long time ago but he gave it back eventually, still smells a little weird for some reason. I figured it could be useful on Namek so I packed it.” Bulma said strapping the watch to her wrist. “You just push this button and-”

The mircoband beeped once and in almost an instant Bulma began to shrink. The genius’s height dwindled until she stood a fraction of her original size.

“Whoa!” Tien said unable to hide his surprise. “How did you do that?”

“We don’t have the time for me to explain,” Bulma answered pushing another button and grew back to her full height. “But with this, you’ll be able to sneak onto Frieza’s ship no problem.”

“Humph, you can’t expect me to use that foolish device,” Vegeta said with a look of disgust.

“You’ll have too. You’re the only one that can sneak on board Frieza’s ship,” said Tien.

“What? You’re giving it to him?” said Bulma. “Aren’t you going, Tien?”

“I can’t. If Frieza discovers Vegeta it’ll be bad but if he finds me then he’ll realize Krillin’s been lying to him which will be a lot worse. And I’m assuming you didn’t bring two of those watches.”

“…no I didn’t.”

“This is ridiculous,” Vegeta said with a snarl. “You expect me to risk my life for the dwarf?”

“I expect you to risk your life for the dragonballs. Or did you not want your wish?”

Vegeta snorted but said nothing.

“I don’t like this Tien,” Bulma whispered. “What’s to stop him from hurting Krillin or taking the dragonballs and leaving?”

“He doesn’t know where the last dragonball is so he’ll never have all 7 without our help. As for hurting Krillin something tells me he’d rather win in a fair fight then go for a cheap victory. That’s how saiyans operate.”

“Are you done?” Vegeta asked reaching out for the microband. “We’re running out of time.”

Bulma took off the mircoband and was about to hand it to Vegeta when she pulled back and eyed the saiyan.

“I want to trade.”

“Trade? Now? Woman, we don’t have time for this!”

“My name is Bulma and you’ll have to make time.”

“…fine, what do you want?”

The mircoband for the scouter.”

Vegeta paused and looked over the young blue-haired once. “I want more.”

“…what do you want?”

“I want to know what you are building.”

“I'll tell you when it's done.”

“You'll tell me now.”

Bulma started to argue but paused for a moment before saying.“Alright, it's a weapon.”

"What kind of weapon?"

"A weapon that needs Krillin to work and that's all I'll say for now. So stop stalling and go get him, or are you really that afraid of this Frieza guy?"

"Afraid?!" Vegeta said recoiling as if he had been shot. "I fear no-"

“Enough,” Tien said stepping in tired of the back and forth. “Give her the scouter and get the watch. You’re bickering like children.”

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at Bulma who wore a small smirk. The prince and genius exchanged their items.

“Don’t break the watch in a dumb fight either,” said Bulma. “It’s one of a kind and I won’t be able to remake it.”

“What I do with my possessions is of no concern to you.” The prince said with a smirk of his own.

Bulma rolled her eyes and turned toward the three-eyed human, “Be careful Tien, watch yourself.” She then turned back to Vegeta. “If you hurt any of my friends you’ll answer to me, got it?”

It was subtle but Tien saw a hint of hesitation in the saiyan’s movement as the prince was caught off guard by Bulma’s threat.

“Humph, as if you could do anything against me woman.”

“….I liked you better in the rice cooker,” Bulma said before returning to her work.

Vegeta glared but started to rise into the sky ready to fly toward Frieza’s ship. Tien followed and soon the two were soaring through Namek at full speed.

“Are all female humans like her?” Vegeta asked Tien as they flew.

“Bulma’s in a league of her own,” Tien answered.

The saiyan prince peered back at the young genius still working on the namekian ship. “Ridiculous.”

* * *

 “There, can you sense him?” Tien said pointing at a section of Frieza’s ship. The two had found a nearby cliff overlooking the giant spacecraft. “His energy is faint but it looks like he’s in a different room than Frieza.”

“That part of the ship should be where the healing chamber is. He’s probably recovering in there.” Vegeta said

“Healing chamber?”

“It’s a chamber that heals your wounds. I hope that isn’t too difficult a concept to grasp, human.”

“It isn’t,” Tien said ignoring the taunt. “If Krillin still has Frieza convinced that he’s on his side then he may be able to get close to the dragonballs. I’ll be here in case anything goes wrong.”

“This is a terrible plan,” Vegeta said with a snap.

“It’s the only one we’ve got. Now get going, saiyan.”

Grumbling Vegeta snapped the microband onto his wrist and pushed one of the two buttons available to him. In an instant, the prince had shrunk down to a small size and flew toward the ship. Touching down on the top of spaceship Vegeta dashed toward the opening in its center only to see that it was shut tight. Firing a tiny blast of energy the saiyan prince was able to cut a hole big enough to slip through. Landing on the ground floor Vegeta took a moment to scan his surroundings. Frieza’s vessel towered above him at his smaller size. The hallway stretched out in front and above him for seemed like miles. The scale and scope of the ship made the prince’s head swim for a moment forcing him to regain his focus. Seeing that he had gone unnoticed Vegeta started to fly staying close to the ground as he made his way to the healing chamber.

_This is utterly ridiculous. To think that I would be forced to work with the humans in this fashion. Scurrying around like a mouse and taking orders from that blue-haired witch. Once I gained immortality they will all suffer my wrath._

Recognizing the basic layout of the ship helped Vegeta navigate his way through and before long the saiyan had reached his destination. Again blasting a small hole through the shut door gave immediate access to the room and soon the smaller saiyan prince found himself standing before the healing chamber, where Krillin sat floating in the soothing waters.

_There you are._

Looking around to make certain he was alone Vegeta pushed the button to grow. Gaining feet in seconds the saiyan prince took a look at the console that controlled the healing chamber Krillin rested in.

_Not completely done but the majority of his wounds should have healed by now. Should be simple enough t-_

“I’m back sir, and I’ve got your battle armo-”

The sudden appearance of Appule surprised the saiyan prince who whirled around to see the small purple alien holding a set of clothes in both hands.

“Vege-”

The soldier was cut off as his throat was grabbed stopping his voice and ability to breath. Appule began to struggle clawing at Vegeta’s arm trying to get free.

“You have poor timing Appule. Had you waited just a mome-”

Before Vegeta could finish his taunt Appule’s desperate grabs for freedom gripped the microband still attached to the saiyan’s wrist. In a blind panic, the solider grabbed the watch and tore it off the saiyan’s arm crushing it in his hand.

_Worthless trash!_ Vegeta screamed in his head only to avoid being heard.

With one swift motion, the prince crushed Appule’s neck, snapping the bone and killing the poor grunt in an instant. Allowing the body to hit the floor Vegeta removed the watch from Appule’s death grip only to see that it was broken beyond repair.

_That woman will never let me hear the end of this._

Pocketing the evidence and moving the body of Appule away from the door Vegeta turned his attention back to the console. Pushing several buttons had the see-through sphere rising into the air. The water trapped inside flowed outward drenching the room and leaving Krillin in the center of the chamber. The breathing tube still attached to his mouth. Despite the commotion outside the monk was still sleeping peacefully, he had been using the opportunity to rest to its fullest.

_Damn human._ Vegeta thought. _Somehow he’s gotten a lot stronger since the last time I saw him. Of course, that won’t save him when I’m immortal._ The saiyan reared back his hand and slapped it against Krillin’s cheek.

The smack had an immediate effect as Krillin snapped awake.

“Wha? What’s goi…VEG-”

The saiyan prince shoved his hand over the monk’s mouth stopping his outburst. 

“Be quiet idiot, do you want Frieza to hear us?” The saiyan whispered slowly moving his hand back.

“What are you doing here?” Krillin asked keeping his voice low.

“I’m here to claim what’s rightfully mine,” said Vegeta. “Unfortunately, with the Ginyu Force on their way here, I cannot do that without some assistance from you and your allies.”

“The dragonballs? We aren’t just going to give them to you just because more enemies are coming.”

“If you want to survive, you will.” Vegeta shoved an open palm into Krillin’s face and started to gather energy. “Make no mistake. I want nothing more than to see Frieza dead by my hand. That is the only reason you’re alive right now.”

“Noted, what do you want?” Krillin snapped.

“I want what every saiyan craves, the ability to fight without end, without worry, and without the chance of loss. I want immortality.”

Krillin blinked once trying not to show his surprise as he thought over Vegeta’s demand.

_…that’s it? That’s what he wants? I guess it makes sense to him he could technically fight forever. But he wouldn’t get any stronger from the wish and it wouldn’t stop him from getting trapped again. Worst case scenario we just need to find another jar or something and use the evil containment wave. If I know it’s coming I’ll be better prepared to help Tien. And this time we’d just leave him in there._

“…alright.”

Vegeta narrowed his eyes not expecting the monk to agree to his demands so easily. “I have your word?”

“You have it.”

Still filled with doubt Vegeta lowered his hand and let the energy in his palm die. Free from the threat of death Krillin noticed the body of Appule tucked into the corner of the room. The monk flinched but battled down his initial disgust.

“I see that stealth isn’t one of your strong suits,” said Krillin trying to downplay the effect the gruesome sight had on him.

“Quiet human,” Vegeta spat. “A better use of your time would be figuring out a way to steal the dragonballs from Frieza.”

“He took all of them with him into his private chambers. We’ll need to get him out of the room if we are going to have any hope of getting the dragonballs out of there.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“Maybe. We’ll have to distract him with the only thing he wants more than the dragonballs he has.”

“Which is?”

“The only dragonball he’s missing, which he thinks you have.”

* * *

 Staring through the large window in front of him Frieza looked out at Namek. It’s rolling hills, the clear water, and the sky that never went dark. They did nothing to ease the fury the emperor felt boiling inside him. Despite the capture of six of the seven dragonballs spending one more second on this hunk of rock plagued him with discomfort. The only relief he felt was knowing that it was only a matter of time before the monkey prince Vegeta was discovered and dispatched of. Then with the final dragonball in his hands, his reign would truly begin. The thought brought a rare smile to Frieza’s face only to vanish when a series of knocks from his door interrupted him.

“Enter.”

The doors to his private chambers slide open revealing a newly dressed Krillin clothed in the battle armor Appule had brought him. The combat gear was fairly basic. Its design held dual shoulder guards, a plate shielding around the torso dyed grey, white matching boots and gloves, and a pair of grey shorts. Dropping down to one knee the monk bowed deeply before the emperor of death.

“Ah my newest warrior, I trust Appule treated you well?”

“…he did my lord.”

“Excellent. I’ve also received word that the Ginyu Force will arrive shortly and with the newly developed scouters.”

“That’s wonderful my lord,” Krillin said keeping his voice straight.

“It is isn’t it?” Frieza said with a mad grin. “Now then, I would have you explain your encounter with Vegeta in more detail.”

“Of course my lord,” Krillin said raising his head. “I was with my companion at the time searching for anything of value when we came across your general Dodoria. He was flying after the man you described as Vegeta who appeared to be carrying a dragonball. They fought and Dodoria was killed.”

“I see, afterward in what direction did the monkey go?”

“Monkey? My lord?”

“Ah excuse me perhaps you are unaware. Vegeta is a saiyan, a race of warriors tittering on the brink of extinction. You would know them by their tails they usually wrap around their waists and their ability to transform into giant apes, a primitive way of fighting for a primitive species.”

“Extinction?” Krillin said slowly. “How many saiyans are left, my lord?”

“I do believe Vegeta is the sole survivor of the race,” Frieza answered thinking for a moment. “Yes, both Nappa and Raditz have perished if the reports are to be believed.”

_So he doesn’t know about Goku or Gohan._ Krillin thought hiding a smile. _Good._

“Regardless did you see which way Vegeta fled after the battle?”

“I did my lord. He went-”

Krillin stopped as he had taken this opportunity to scan the room for the dragonballs that lay on the floor. The giant dragonballs were scattered about each filling in a spot on the floor of Frieza’s chambers though as the monk looked over the orbs, he noticed something, something that forced him to pause.

_Wait…why are there only five?_

Before Krillin could ask an explosion rocked the spacecraft shaking the ship and tilting the entire vessel to one side.

“What is this?!” Frieza screeched nearly losing his balance as the floor underneath him slanted sideways.

_No, it’s too soon!_ “My lord we must be under attack!” Krillin said carefully watching the five dragonballs roll to one side of the room. _Where is the sixth one?!_

“Then don’t just stand there! Do something!”

The monk nodded once before making his toward the doors. As soon as the doors to the private chamber opened smoke billowed into the room making it impossible to see very far. Despite that Krillin dove into the smog head first. The doors closed behind the monk and left Frieza alone in his room.

“Hey wait you’re-”

Krillin’s voice was cut off as another explosion tore into the ship sending tremors throughout the craft. Sounds of fighting erupted behind the private chamber’s walls and Frieza was forced to track the battle through sound alone.

“My lord!” Again Krillin called out.  “It’s that saiyan! Vegeta!”

“WHAT!”

Running through the doors into the smoke-filled hallways the sound of fighting only grew louder to Frieza’s right. Turning a corner the emperor saw his newest soldier thrown into the wall right next to him.

“My lord! He went that way!” Krillin said pointing down the hall.

Despite the smog, Frieza was able to make out movement ducking down around the corner.

“Get back here monkey!” The emperor shrieked.

Dashing after the mystery figure Frieza with Krillin running behind him the master of destruction assumed it would be simple to catch up to the fleeing prince. Only for a second explosion to shattered that assumption.

“What was that?!” Frieza screamed the smoke still obscuring his view.

“My lord that came from your private chambers!”

As soon as Frieza heard that all he could see was red. His rage exploding out of him in a scream he flew back to his chambers ready to rip the saiyan apart. Though when he returned to his room all he saw was a great hole through the window he was looking at and a floor clean of dragonballs. There was no trace of Vegeta to be seen, the prince of the saiyan had made a clean getaway with his prizes.

“HOW?”

It was question laced with deep anger that was only matched the outpouring of power that consumed the entire spaceship. Racing into the private chambers Krillin nearly gagged as the show of strength from the emperor overwhelmed his senses. So great was his need for Vegeta’s head that despite not being the target of his anger the monk couldn’t stop a shudder.

“GET THEM BACK.”

Krillin froze in place forgetting to kneel. “My lord did he get every drag-”

“ **GET THEM BACK**.”

The monk’s question died so instead he flew out of the hole in Frieza’s ship eager to put some distance between him and the crazed alien.

* * *

  _There._

Krillin had followed Tien’s and Vegeta’s ki signatures to a location miles away Frieza’s ship where the two warriors stood on a small island surrounded by the dragonballs recently stolen from the emperor himself.

“I’m telling you there were only five in the room!” Vegeta shouted at Tien with no intention of hiding his voice. “I threw every ball in that room out of that window and barely escaped with my life. Your pathetic leader must have the sixth one.”

“Krillin said that Frieza had all six dragonballs why would he risk-” Tien stopped as he noticed the monk touching down on the island. “Good to see you Krillin…What are you wearing?”

“Battle armor,” Krillin said skipping the details. “Vegeta you said you only found five dragonballs right?”

“Yes, as I’ve been trying to explain to the tall one, though his thick head can’t seem to understand that.”

“Krillin, where is the sixth one?” Tien asked fearing the answer.

“….I don’t know. Frieza must still have it.”

“What!” Vegeta shouted. “This was your plan human! How could you mess this up?!”

“Krillin what happened in there?”

“Well, everything else went according to the plan: Splitting myself into two so I could destroy the far end of the ship and pretend it was Vegeta went flawlessly. Like we thought Frieza couldn’t resist leaving his chambers hoping he could get the last dragonball. That gave Vegeta enough time to steal the dragonballs. The only problem was there were only five dragonballs in the room when I got there. He must have hidden it somewhere but where I’m not sure.”

“This is what I get for relying on you humans,” Vegeta spat. “Any more bright ideas?”

“For now we’ll have to keep our distance. If only to pretend like I’m searching for you. We can regroup with Bulma and drop off the dragonballs we have for now.”

“Great,” the prince scoffed.  “The woman again.”

Krillin looked at Tien a little confused only for his friend to roll his eyes.

“Gohan may have returned as well. Hopefully, he’s convinced Nail to join us.”

“You sent Gohan back to the Grand Elder?” Krillin asked.

“I figured that was safer than coming with us to rescue you.”

Krillin said nothing but nodded in understanding.

“Are you done wasting time?” Vegeta asked picking up two of the five dragonballs. “Let’s move humans.”

Krillin and Tien obeyed wordlessly if only to avoid an argument. With all the dragonballs in hand, the three warriors took to the sky and started flying back toward Bulma.

“Hey, Vegeta do you still have the Bulma’s watch? She may want that back now that we’re done with it.” Tien asked as they flew.

The prince of all saiyans did not respond.


	13. Working With The Enemy

**Author’s Note: This chapter is a little on the shorter side but it’s needed. Also, just a heads up writing outside my comfort zone in regards to some of the more scientific aspects but hey nothing ventured, nothing gained. That’s it for me, hope you are all well and enjoying the summer so as always, please enjoy.**

* * *

“Boy.”

Nail’s voice after hours of silence scared Gohan the small half-saiyan visibly flinching.

Looking back over his shoulder as he flew Nail was still following him without any trouble, despite his eyes being closed. The namekian had been in deep thought ever since the two had left the Grand Elder’s home, until now.

“Uh, yes Mr. Nail?”

“The Grand Elder’s health, keep that knowledge to yourself.”

“What? Why?”

“You Earthlings seem to be ruled by your emotions the fewer distractions weighing on the others, the better.”

“O…okay.”

Once again the silence fell between the two. Yet hoping to find an answer to the question he had been carrying since the two started their trip Gohan turned and said quietly.

“Um, Mr. Nail?”

“What?” The warrior answered his eyes still closed.

“Uh…I was wondering. What did the Eld-”

“Grand Elder.”

“Right, sorry. What did the Grand Elder mean when he said I have a gentle soul?”

“It means you’re kind, which also means you shouldn’t be here.” Nail said without hesitation, “You’d be better off leaving this to actual warriors.”

“I…I can fight,” Gohan said sternly.

“Maybe, you are strong that I am not denying,” Nail said opening his eyes. “But having strength and using it effectively is very different. You are a child. Despite your abilities, this isn’t a fight you should be in. You’re just getting in the way.”

“But I want to help!”

“This is war boy,” Nail shot back. “You don’t help people, you either kill or die.”

Gohan grew quiet letting the conversation fade. Soon the pair approached their destination, the small island where the young boy had left his friends to go search for help.

“I asked you for **one** thing!”

The silence between the half-saiyan and namekian was broken by a voice covered in fury.

“Who?” Nail asked as the pair started to descend on the island.

“That’s Mrs. Bulma. She sounds angry though.”

Touching down on both Gohan and Nail turned a corner to see a group of people gathered around the namekian ship.

“It was an utterly useless device,” Vegeta snapped back. “What good is a watch that can shrink against an opponent like Frieza?”

“What good?! There was no limit to what we could have used that watch for! You can’t solve all of your problems by punching them! You have to think out the box at least a little!”

“I fail to see your point. The only way we win is if Frieza dies. No amount of gadgets is going to help, we need more power, not more watches.”

Bulma responded by letting out a groan and running her hands across her face. “Unbelievable, it’s like talking to a wall but worse.”

“You can’t make another one?” Tien asked hoping his question wouldn’t get him yelled at.

“No!” Bulma shouted, “As I explained already that watch was one of kind. One, I don’t have the materials here so I can’t rebuild it. Two, even if we survive this and get back to Earth I don’t know where my plans for it went. It’s been years since I built the thing and I’d have to start from scratch.”

“Then there isn’t any use fighting over it,” Krillin said rubbing his forehead softly. “What’s done is done and we’ll have to move on, which means this argument **has** to end.”

Vegeta scoffed and Bulma glared but neither said anything more.

“Good,” Krillin continued. “Now we just to wait for-”

Looking to his side the monk caught sight of Gohan who had been peeking around the corner of a large rock waiting for a chance to enter the conversation.

“Gohan!” Krillin smiled glad to see that the half-saiyan was unharmed.

The young boy didn’t move from his hiding spot even after he was discovered. His eyes were locked on to Vegeta who only sneered at the stare.

“Kakarot’s brat. I see you’ve gotten stronger as well.”

 “Mr. Krillin?” Gohan asked trying to gauge the situation.

“It’s alright Gohan, he’s fine,” Krillin said before shooting a look at Vegeta. “We’re all friends here, right?”

“Far from it,” The prince said crossing his arms. “For now we are allies in this fight, nothing more.”

“See, friends.”

Gohan was unconvinced and reminded partially hidden behind the rock.

“Enough of this,” Nail said losing his patience and rounding the stone.

“The namekian?” Vegeta said unable to hide his surprise. “But you died on Earth!”

“..I do not know what you are talking about or who you are stranger,” Nail said slowly. “I have never been to Earth much less died there.”

“This is Nail,” Tien said stepping in. “He’s the guardian of the Grand Elder, the leader of Namek.”

“So these primitives have a leader, I wasn’t aware that you namekians all looked the same,” Vegeta said with a sneer.

“No more than you Earthlings.” Nail fired back.

“Watch your tongue namekian. Don’t you dare compare me to these weaklings I am the prince of all saiyans!”

“I do not care,” Nail said sternly. “I am here to ensure that the dragonballs are recovered and used properly, nothing more.”

“Are you?” said Vegeta with some interest. “Then you should understand that I am here for the sake of my wish.”

“You plan to use the dragonballs?” Nail said displeased with the idea. “For what?”

“For what else? Immortality.”

“That is not why Porunga was created. I will not allow it.”

“You are welcome to try and stop me.”

Nail took the bait and charged at Vegeta with a speed greater than the prince had been expecting. The sudden acceleration put the namekian within striking distance and he lunged at Vegeta’s throat with a swift chop.

“Solar flare!”

The burst of light enveloped the two warriors in an instant stopping Nail’s attack cold and forcing the saiyan and namekian to end the fight before it had begun.

_I knew he would try something like that._ Krillin thought putting his hands down and letting the light fade. “Are you done? We don’t have time for this.”

“You accept this one?” Nail said shaking his head and regaining his sight. “You told the Grand Elder you intended to use the dragonballs for the sake of your friends. He is a threat to that.”

“We will deal with that when we have all the dragonballs, unfortunately, we don’t.”

“The child told me you only have one left.”

“We stole back six,” Krillin said pointing to the pile of dragonballs he Vegeta, and Tien had left. “Frieza still has the last one. So we are thinking of ways we can get it back.”

“…that’s a start,” Nail said as he walked over to the pile of dragonballs to inspect them.

Krillin let out the breath he was holding before turning his attention to Vegeta.

“Maybe you didn’t sense it but he’s stronger than you. If I didn’t stop him he would have killed you.”

“I suppose you want my gratitude?”

“No, but the next time that happens you’ll still deserve it and I won’t be there to save you.”

Vegeta grunted but had no response.

“Mr. Krillin, are you okay?”

Krillin turned to see Gohan approaching him no longer stuck behind the boulder.

“I’m fine Gohan, thanks. Good job bringing Nail here.”

The young half-saiyan beamed at the praise but paused as he recalled Nail’s words.

“…Mr. Krillin, do you think I’m helping?”

“Huh? Why do you ask that?”

“Well…I-”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Bulma said cutting off Gohan “But Krillin I need you over by the ship now.”

“Okay, sorry Gohan I’ll be back soon,” The monk said quickly before following the blue-haired genius over to the namekian ship leaving the child alone with his question.

“Here,” said Bulma handing Krillin what appeared to be a box with two handlebars jetting out of it and multiple wires running out of it and into the spacecraft. “I need you to charge this.”

“Charge it?” Krillin asked, “With what?”

“What do you think? With the electricity, you have shooting out of your fingertips.”

“…why?”

“Is it not obvious?”

“Not really,” Krillin said looking at the spaceship.

No longer a spaceship, Bulma remolded the entire craft to compensate for the two metal pillars which once stood parallel to each other but now had been fashioned on top of each other with a little space in the middle. That area in the middle had crafted as if it were a runway leading out into the open sky as it jetted out of the open window. The pillars were also attached to a base that had firmly planted in the center of the ship. The base’s purpose appeared to keep the pillars in place as if it were expected to compensate for a wild amount of movement. The unfamiliar technology of the namekian craft had been completely reworked to change this ship into a single-minded weapon.

“What is this thing?”

“It’s a rail gun,” Bulma said picking up some of the tools she had scattered around.

“A rail gun?”

“Yes, it’s an experimental weapon that uses electromagnetic force to launch high-velocity projectiles, utilizing the sliding armature that is accelerated along with a pair of conductive rails,” Bulma said pointing to the long metal pillars. “You know, a rail gun. It’s not that complicated.”

Krillin blinked twice and said nothing.

“Look,” Bulma said with a sigh. “A rail gun uses electricity to power it. Usually, an electric current runs from the positive terminal of the power supply, up the positive rail, across the armature, and down the negative rail back to the power supply.”

“O…okay,” said Krillin.

“In this case, you’re the power supply but I can’t have you stay here to just to power it. So I made a battery, which you are now holding.  I need you to charge it with electricity so I can launch these,” The young genius then pointed to the spikes that had once adorned the top of the namekian ship. “With my design and your energy, I’ll be able to shoot these spikes almost anywhere on the planet. This way I’ll be able to stay out of the fight and provide covering fire for you guys.”

“Woah,” Krillin said finally understanding what his friend was saying. “Bulma this is-”

“Ridiculous.”

Bulma and Krillin turned to see Vegeta with a displeased look on his face.

“I had assumed your machine would be able to help us. But it looks like you’ve been wasting both your time and ours”

“It will help,” said Bulma. “At the very least it won’t break anything valuable so it’s already better than you.”

“How do you expect to hit anything with that?” Vegeta spit ignoring the insult. “Not only will you be firing blindly from here but neither Frieza nor the Ginyu Force is going to wait for you to shoot them.”

“Well, that’s where our trade comes in handy.”

Bulma reached into her pocket and pulled out the scouter Vegeta had given her for the micro-watch.

“With this, I’ll be able to pinpoint anyone’s coordinates no matter where there are. As for making sure they stay still. That’s where you guys come in.”

Throwing the tools she had picked up back through the window of the newly-named rail gun Bulma reached into her other pocket and pulled out what appeared to be two small earbuds.

“What is that?” Tien asked

“They’re communicators. One for you and one for Krillin, this way you’ll be able to tell me the best time to shoot.”

“Smart,” Tien said picking up his communicator and inspecting it.

“It is isn’t it? Just place it in your ear and you’ll be able to contact me no matter where you are on the planet. I designed it so it won’t fall out of your ear no matter how fast you’re moving. How’s that for helpful?” Bulma said shooting a look toward Vegeta who remained silent.

“I don’t know Bulma,” said Krillin. “We don’t even know if this will work against them.”

“Look, if I had more time or a proper place to work I could have come up with something better. But the way I see it any attack these guys don’t see coming should do some damage right?”

“…I guess,” The monk said slowly.

“Yajirobi’s sword did work against Zarbon Krillin, they aren’t invincible. These spikes aren’t laced with any energy either. It won’t appear on their scouters so they won’t be expecting it. If we can surprise them with this then even if it doesn’t kill it’ll be a good opening move.”

“Exactly!” Bulma said relieved she had Tien on her side. “As for making sure they stay still just get them talking or something. From what I’ve seen you guys do that more than actually fight.”

The monk said nothing as he thought deeply.

_This may make Bulma a target but… we should use every advantage we’ve got_.

“…are you sure?”

“Obviously,” The genius scoffed. “I didn’t build this thing so I wouldn’t use it.”

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

“Great!” Bulma said sending a grin toward Vegeta who only scoffed. “Whenever you’re ready charge the battery and we can get started. Don’t hold back either the more power from you the more power the rail gun will have.”

Krillin nodded and braced himself gripping the armature tightly he prepared to bring out as much energy as he could generate. To his surprise the amount of ki that sprang forth out of his hands and into the handcrafted battery was far more then he was expecting. Pouring out of him like a burst dam electricity coated the armature in an instant. Struggling more to contain the amount of ki then produce it, before long before Krillin heard a strong beep coming from the armature signaling it was at its limit.

“Wow,” said Bulma. “I thought that was going to take a lot longer. Nice work.”

“…thanks,” Krillin said as he powered down still unsure where the strength he just displayed came from.

“It is the Grand Elder’s power.”

The monk turned to see the namekian approach him with his usual cold gaze.

 “You’re talking when he unlocked my potential?” Krillin asked. “Is that still affecting me?”

“It is. The child and the woman should be as well, whatever your true potential is your body needs time to adapt to it. Did you not listen to the Grand Elder’s words?”

“I did,” Krillin answered the old namekian’s voice ringing in his head. _Every step you take from here will be the most powerful version of yourself._ “So this power will grow? How strong am I going to become?”

“As long as you keep fighting that is entirely up to you. But now is not the time for that, what are your plans for recovering the last dragonball?”

 “We’re working on it, it’s definitely in the ship somewhere but we aren’t sure where.”

“So we go to the ship.” Nail said as if it was obvious.

“It’s not that simple,” Tien said stepping in. “Frieza’s there and he’s stronger than all of us combined.”

“Then we gain more strength.”

“Nail like Tien said it’s not that sim-”

Krillin paused as his mind began to race. The monk looked over at Vegeta who seemed to be content with separating himself from the others.

“Maybe it is that simple.”

“What?” Tien asked, “What are you talking about?”

“You, Nail, and Gohan will have to take the dragonballs and hide them. Then find a place we can go to face the Ginyu Force.”

“You want to fight them?”

“Don’t have a choice, they’ll be arriving with scouters. No matter where we are they’ll find us.”

“Where will you and the saiyan be?” asked Nail.

“…we’ll be going back to Frieza’s ship.”

“HA.”

The mocking laugh came out of the prince despite the distance he had put between him and the rest of the group.

“I’ll not be brought into this death wish of yours human. I sincerely hope you have a better idea than that. As there is no chance I’ll be following you to Frieza’s doorstep.”

“That’s where the last dragonball is,” Krillin fired back, “Listen to what I have to say then make your decision.”

 Though no response was given from the saiyan the monk knew he had his attention.

“I left Frieza’s side to go look for you so the only reason I should return is if I had you in my custody.”

“True, though as soon as we arrive Frieza will torture me for information about the dragonballs location.”

“Yes but that’s the key, he needs you alive. So if it looks like you’ll die before he can get that information he’ll do everything he can to make sure you survive.”

“What are you getting at human?”

“I’ll bring you to Frieza as my prisoner that’s how we’ll gain access to the ship. However, you’ll be too injured to talk that way he’ll have no way to getting you to tell him where the dragonballs are. He’ll have to stick you into the healing chamber and wait for you to recover. While that’s happening I’ll find and steal the last dragonball. Once I have that we’ll make our escape and meet up with the others.”

“You intend for me to act defeated for the sake of your plan?”

“You won’t have to act. To convince Frieza you’ll really have to be at death’s door.”

“And why would I do that?”

“If you want to get stronger you will,” Krillin said smoothly. “You said it yourself, saiyans grow stronger when you survive through injuries that nearly kill you. If we go with my plan not only will we have a shot at getting the last dragonball but you’ll also be stronger by the end of it.”

The prince grew silent as he began to weigh his options.

“Krillin, are you sure this is a good idea?” Tien whispered. “The last thing we need now is a stronger Vegeta.”

“It’s the only way he would agree to this plan and we need those dragonballs. That’s what matters most.”

“…I hope you know what you’re doing.”

_So do I_. The monk thought as the saiyan turned toward the group with his answer.

“Very well, if there isn’t a better plan this will do.”

“Good, then we need to leave now. We’re running out of time.”

“Wait Krillin, don’t forget this,” Bulma said as she handed the monk his communicator. “Just push down lightly on it and talk normally. Both Tien and I will be able to hear you no matter where you are.”

“Got it, thanks Bulma,” Krillin said inserting it into his ear before he turned toward Tien, Nail, and Gohan. “Listen up, the Ginyu Force will be planet side soon but so will Goku. Chances are he’ll be stronger but we don’t know if that’ll be enough. Regardless, the more numbers we have the better we’ll be. Once Vegeta and I have the dragonball we’ll meet up and make our wishes.”

“Wishes?” Vegeta said clearly confused.

“The namekian dragon allows for three wishes,” said Tien.

“We’re lucky it does,” Krillin said, “We’ll be able to restore Piccolo and bring everyone here for a day. If we can do that before the fight then we’ll have the advantage.”

“You’ve decided?” Tien asked slowly. “You’ll bring them here?”

“…yes,” Krillin answered. “We need them.”

“Alright, I trust you.”

Krillin nodded relieved he had Tien’s faith.

 “Okay, take the six dragonballs we have and hide them. Tien’s got his communicator so he’ll get in touch with me if something’s gone wrong. Any questions?”

Gohan opened his mouth to say something but as the young boy looked over the rest of the group and saw they all were ready to go his comment faded and the moment passed. With no questions that needed answers, Krillin nodded firmly and simply said, “Good luck.”

* * *

 

“Here, this should be good,” Krillin said pointing to a clearing.

The prince and the monk had been flying without a word spoken as they traveled back to Frieza’s ship. The pair had nothing to say to each other and both were eager to see this done. Landing almost in unison the two warriors looked at each other.

“We should be far enough away from the ship that he won’t hear us but close enough that you won’t bleed out on the way there.”

Vegeta said nothing and made no indication that he had heard what Krillin had said.

“Alright, here I come,” The monk said intending to blast a hole through the saiyan’s stomach.

As he approached Vegeta turned and let a hard punch fly. Smashing into the side of Krillin’s face and blasting him backward onto his back.

“Vegeta what are you doing?!”

“Never mind the already laughable idea that Frieza will believe you’d beat me,” Vegeta said while getting into a fighting stance. “There is no way he would be dense enough to think you’d take me without a fight!”

_…he’s right._ Krillin thought while wiping a small drip of blood oozing out of the corner of his lip. _If I showed up without any injuries at all Frieza would probably be suspicious._

Getting back up onto his feet Krillin looked at the prince. The saiyan’s stance a mirror image of the one he donned during the monk’s darkest memory, the battle on Earth.

“Fine,” Krillin said slowly.

Propelling himself forward as if shot out of a cannon the monk closed the gap between him and the saiyan in an instant.

_He’s faster_ Vegeta thought to himself as he barely avoided the strong kick and the hard punch that followed it. Giving the prince no openings Krillin pushed the attack leaving Vegeta on the defensive.

The saiyan prince was forced to leap backward into the sky cursing the human as he began to fire a series of energy blasts. Krillin leapt into the ki blasts smacking them out of the air and again covering the distance between the fighters in seconds. Surprised by the fight being taken to him Vegeta was slow to react which allowed a heavy punch from Krillin to connect blasting him toward the ground. Flipping onto his feet the saiyan grunted before leaping back up to the sky and back into the fight. Throwing up two hands by his face the monk prepared to fire a solar flare directly at the saiyan.

“Not this time human!” Vegeta shouted doubling his speed and smashing his foot into Krillin’s face.

The impact shook the human out of his stance the energy needed for the solar flare fading completely. Shaking himself and regaining his focus took too long for Krillin to stop a savage punch from ramming itself into his stomach. Vegeta grinned as he watched the human cough up important fluid and pressed another attack this time his fist aimed at Krillin’s head. Only to whiff as the monk leaned back as if he were expecting the attack. Reaching out with both hands Krillin grabbed the outstretched arm and let loose a torrent of electricity that ran up through the limb.

_He baited me!_  The prince thought as his arm went limp.

Grabbing the opportunity Krillin gripped both sides of Vegeta’s head his hands still coated with electricity and crushed his skull into the saiyan’s. The blow rang out like a gong blurring the prince’s senses and forcing him into unconsciousness. Letting go of the body Krillin watched Vegeta fall before stomping into his stomach with both feet and propelling him back toward Namek. Crashing into the ground scattered dust and ground which was enough to bring the saiyan back into the fight.

_The namekian was right, he’s getting stronger as time passes. I can’t let this little nothing surpass me!_ The saiyan thought as he watched the monk gather and fire a condense beam of ki toward him.

The prince responded by shooting a blast of his own which collided in the middle of the sky. The impact created a cloud of dust that both warriors dashed into with their fists raised. The clash blasted away the dust cloud leaving the human and saiyan locked in a dance of combat neither one giving up an inch.

* * *

 

_His punches have more weight and his movements are much more fluid. It’s like trying to hit water._ Vegeta thought gasping for air. _But more than that, he didn’t retreat or try to hide, no. He knew he could match me and didn’t need any of his tricks; He’s stronger but more than that. That hesitation he had on Earth, he’s lost it._ The saiyan mashed his teeth in quiet fury. _Damn human._

“That should be enough,” Krillin said while panting heavily.

His once clean battle armor had cracks and rips running along it while he donned several bruises. The battle had gone on for some time with the surrounding area showcasing multiple craters and the rubble remains of once great mountains.

“Is that you giving up human?” The prince mocked. “I assumed you had more fight in you than that.”

Despite the taunt, the prince wasn’t faring much better than the monk. Blood from a cut across his cheek trailed down the side of his face and his battle armor looked worn and weary.

“Guess you were wrong,” Krillin said catching his breath. “We should be going. Are you ready?”

“No,” Vegeta said sharply. “I heard what you said to the namekian. Do not expect you can string me along with no intention of getting me my wish.”

 “I guess you’ll have to wait and see if that’s how things turn out.”

“Don’t play with me human! You gave me your word that I would have immortality!”

“I did, though my word doesn’t matter,” Krillin said firing a piercing beam of ki that cut through the stomach of the saiyan prince. “As much as my promises.”

The hole filled up with blood almost immediately causing Vegeta to fall onto one knee and clutch the wound in agony.

“Bastard!” 

“You’ll be better off if you pass out now,” Krillin said walking over and hoisting the saiyan over his shoulder. “I’ll get you into the healing chamber as soon as I can.”

 “I’ll kill…you,” The saiyan said as the blood loss started to drain his consciences.

“You can try,” Krillin said as he took off into Namek’s sky where his Lord Frieza awaited his return.

 


	14. Consequences

_**Author’s Note: Hello all, sorry for the delay but I took my time with this chapter and I think it’s better for it. Trying to find more time to just write isn’t easy but it’s certainly worth it and I had a lot of fun writing this at a slower pace. So I’ll try and do that a bit more. Hope all is well with everyone, please remember that you’re all wonderful people and you deserve a moment to spend just for yourself.  With that said please, enjoy.** _

* * *

  _He’s here._

Krillin swallowed the pool of saliva that had built up in his mouth as he sensed Frieza’s power wafting out of the ship. Staining the air like a disease the monstrous energy coming from the emperor was enough to make Krillin pause and take a moment to compose himself.

_You can do this. Everyone’s counting on you._

With little time to lose and Vegeta’s blood draping his backside the monk slowly descended into the ship. The hole on its top still open to all who would dare enter.

“Lord Frieza!” Krillin called as his feet touched down inside the spacecraft. “I have him!”

There was no immediate response to Krillin’s announcement which only served to put the small human more on edge. Then slowly a sound emitting from beyond the corner of the ship started to ring out. It was the sound of footsteps coming closer with each passing moment. With every thud, Krillin’s heart sank lower yet he refused to let it show on his face.

“Well, well,” Frieza’s voice sang out as he finally came into view. “So you were successful.”

There was calmness in the tyrant’s voice that worried the small human, but ignoring the shiver up his spine the monk nodded.

“Yes my lord, he put up a fight and I was forced to use more power then I intended. I wasn’t able to ask him about the dragonballs either. If we don’t get him into the healing chamber he may die before we can learn their location.”

“Hm,” Frieza said as he walked closer to the monk and saiyan looking over the pair with a cold stare. “In time, but first I must commend you for your swift retrieval of the monkey.”

“Thank you, my lord,” Krillin said with a small bow.

“When he stole most of the dragonballs I feared the worst,” Frieza said slowly gripping Vegeta’s hair and tilting the saiyan’s head upward for a better a look at the unconscious prince. “But you missed one monkey.”

Krillin shifted a little, suppressing his disgust as a mad grin slid across the emperor’s face. “My lord, we should get him into the chamber. The sooner he recovers the sooner we can interrogate him.”

“…a sound plan,” Frieza said as he released Vegeta’s head and turned in the direction of the healing room, “Come.”

Watching the alien turn away from him granted the monk some relief.

_Just being near him is nauseating. If I’m not careful he’ll-_

Krillin’s train of thought stopped as he caught sight of Frieza’s hands. Specks of purple littered both of his hands as if they were splashed with the liquid recently.

_What is that?_

“Are you coming soldier?” Frieza asked turned his head slightly. “Don’t make me wait.”

“Ah, yes my lord. Forgive me,” Krillin answered dragging Vegeta behind him.

“Seems he put up quite the fight,” Frieza said slowly as the pair walked. “I’m surprised you were able to subdue him.”

“It wasn’t easy my lord,” Krillin answered. “He was quite strong.”

“Well, I’m sure you just used one of your little  _tricks_.”

The emphasis placed on the last word had the monk stiffen in fear. Thankfully the emperor missed the worry Krillin had on his face as they reached the entrance to the healing room. Stepping inside Krillin noticed that Appule hadn’t been moved from his resting place. His body still shoved into the same corner he had fallen when Vegeta crushed his throat.

“It seems our dear Appule ran into Vegeta alone. A mistake that cost him his life,” Frieza said noting the body. “Quite fortunate you did not meet the same fate.”

“Y-yes my lord,” Krillin said his voice quivering slightly.  _Does he suspect something?_

“Don’t delay soldier, move him into the chamber,” Frieza said punching in a few commands into the nearby console opening up the healing chamber.

Following the order to the letter, Krillin wasted no time in hooking up Vegeta with the breathing tube. Once he had Frieza entered in a few more commands bringing the chamber back down and filling it up with the healing liquid.

“How long will he be in there my lord?”

“These monkeys recover from wounds quite quickly. An hour should be enough for the traitor,”

_Then that’s how long I have to find the dragonball._

“Alright Lord Frieza, should I change into a new set of clothes?” Krillin asked hoping to get some distance from the emperor.

“No,” Frieza said swiftly. “No, I think not. Why don’t you join me in my chambers? I believe we have  _much_  to discuss.”

Every nerve in the small human’s body blasted a crisp warning.  _He knows._ Forcing down his alarm Krillin nodded as a grin spread across Frieza’s face.

“Good, now shall we be off?”

Showing the monk the door Frieza followed his soldier out leaving Vegeta to heal. The two made their way toward Frieza’s chambers while Krillin’s mind raced. The only sign of worry was a single bead of sweat racing down the side of the monk’s head.

_How would he have figured it out? Where did I slip up?_

Focusing entirely on just walking Krillin allowed himself to breathe slowly.

_Calm down, if he wanted to kill you he would have done it already. Just keep your head down, find your moment to look for the dragonball, and get out of here. You’ll be fin-_

The monk’s train of thought derailed as several nearby objects rammed into the planet at a high speed shaking the entire ship nearly knocking the human off of his feet.

“It seems they have arrived.”

“Who my lord?” Krillin asked regaining his balance.

“The Ginyu Force,” Frieza said casually. “I mentioned them before.”

The monk’s heart sank. “I…I didn’t know they would be here so soon.”

“Is that a problem?” Frieza asked his eyes gleaming, “I asked them to arrive earlier. We must get this done, after all, is that alright with you soldier?”

“O-of course.”

“Of course, what?”

Krillin stiffened. “Of course my lo-”

“Lord Frieza!”

The human and emperor turned to see five figures descend from the opening of the ship. The figures were aliens, all of different species. Each of them wearing variations of the battle armor Krillin had seen all of Frieza’s force wear. This included a scouter that most of the members wore on their heads save for one. However, all this paled in comparison to the onslaught of power Krillin sensed radiating off of each member of the Ginyu Force.

_They’re…they’re so strong._

“Ah, Captain Ginyu,” Frieza said addressing the figure in the middle of the group, “Welcome to Namek.”

This alien’s skin was a deep shade of purple with two horns sticking out on the side of their head, much like Frieza’s. They had no hair instead a series of veins seemed to bulge out from the alien’s skull. He also appeared to be the strongest out of the entire crew, his vast energy making Krillin’s skin crawl.

“Thank you, my lord!” Captain Ginyu shouted before turning to his team, “Men! Form up!”

Without question one of the members a mountain of a man who looked surprisingly human with short orange hair flexed every muscle in his body. The sudden show of strength surprised Krillin as he watched the man pose with all of his strength.

“Recoome!”

The declaration came with such force that the monk almost missed another member of the Ginyu Force begin their flex. A towering alien with completely blue skin, blood-red eyes, and a yellow plate on top of its head rolled its arms and dived into its pose with full force.

“Burter!”

Next to Burter a shorter alien with bright red skin and long flowing white hair kneeled down his eyes closed in complete concentration. Whipping his hair with such precision as if he had done it a hundred times the alien awoke his eyes burning with passion. His pose cut through the air flowing into a stance that seemed completely natural to him.

“Jeice!”

Next in the order seemed to be the smallest member of the group and the only one who wasn’t wearing a scouter. This appeared to be due to the two eyes that were attached to the small aliens head both looking in different directions. The small green creature jumped into its pose as if it were anxious just waiting for its moment. Its movements weren’t as broad as the bigger members despite that the alien assumed its position with all of its heart.

“Guldo!”

At last, it was Captain Ginyu’s turn. As the leader of the Ginyu Force, he hit his pose with a natural grace as if this were the same as breathing to him. Yet that didn’t stop the alien from putting in 100% of his power into every small movement resulting in a pose that was suppose to both stun and amaze. 

“Ginyu!”

As soon as the Captain had announced his name every member changed their pose into a new stance. “Together! We are-”

The change only took a second but it was enough for the team to rearrange themselves into different positions creating a new picture of poses.

“THE GINYU FORCE!”

The team stayed in their poses for a moment, and then another. It was if they were waiting for applause that would never come.

“Guldo!” Captain Ginyu said breaking formation, “You’re two steps out of line!”

“S-sorry Captain,” Guldo said looking at his feet.

“We practiced this! How is anyone supposed to take us seriously if we can’t hit our marks?”

“Nice work Guldo,” Burter said with a tone that could cut.

“Hold on Burter,” Ginyu said looking a blue alien “A failure for one is a failure for us all. We’re the Ginyu Force we’re in this together! Right?”

“Right!” The entire team answered speaking as one.

“Now then! From the top!”

“That won’t be necessary Captain,” Frieza said stopping the group cold. “We do have important matters to attend to.”

“As you wish Lord Frieza!” Captain Ginyu shouted snapping to attention. “By the way my lord who is this beside you?” The captain asked while pointing to Krillin.

“This is....I'm sorry little one I've forgotten your name,” Frieza said smoothly. 

"...it's Krillin, my lord."

“Ah yes, Krillin. For now, he is our newest member and the one responsible for bringing in Vegeta.”

_For now…_ Krillin repeated in his head.

“Impressive!” Captain Ginyu said, “From our lord’s report it seemed the saiyan was being quite a handful, well done soldier.”

“T-thank you, sir!” Krillin replied feeling very out of place.

“Moving on,” Frieza said with a snap. “Do you have the item I requested Captain?”

“Of course my lord!” The purple alien said as he pulled out a small box. Opening it up to reveal a small scouter. “It’s the latest model.”

 “Marvelous,” Frieza said

_No_. Krillin thought as he watched the emperor pick up the machine and strapping it on with a click.

“My apologies my lord, we weren’t aware you had recruited a new soldier so we only brought the one scouter.”

“Have no fear my captain,” Frieza said slowly. “Krillin won’t be needing a scouter, he’ll be here with me.”

Krillin quivered as the emperor’s words cut into him, the small monk unable to stop shaking slightly.

“Now then,” Frieza said before turning the scouter on with a loud beep. Almost instantly the device picked up a power source and the emperor turned in its direction.

“There you are,” Frieza said with a smile.

_He’s found them._ Krillin said watching his darkest fears come true right in front of him.  _He’s found them._

“Ginyu Force,” Frieza said looking over the group of aliens

“Sir!”

“Your mission is to retrieve the dragonballs located somewhere on this dreadful planet. There are six remaining. When you find them bring them here, that is your first objective. I suggest you start with the multiple energy signatures your scouters can pick up.”

“Yes, sir! What is our second objective?”

“Exterminate everyone that stands in your way,” Frieza said with a casual wave of his hand.

“Understood!” Captain Ginyu said as he turned back to his men. “Ginyu Force! Move out!”

“Sir!” The entire unit said in unison as they saluted and shot upward out of the ship flying toward the energy sources with both objectives in mind.

Krillin stood watching the opening in the ship in stunned silence and horror. His hand moved toward his ear where his communicator lay but stopped when he felt Frieza’s stare back on him.

_I can’t leave, I can’t warn them, I can’t make a move, I…I can’t do anything. If I do-_

The monk looked at the emperor who gestured to his private chambers with a smile.

_He’ll kill me._

With heavy steps the small human lead his master to the most important room on the ship. With a slow slide of the door, the two entered into Frieza’s chambers. There Krillin saw two things that made his breath stop and his blood run cold. In the center lay the last remaining dragonball but hunched over to the side of the room clutching several wounds and bleeding heavily, lay a heavily injured Tsuno.

“Hmmm, I see a sign of familiarity on your face soldier,” Frieza said with a coy grin. “Do you know this namekian?”

Krillin stiffened unsure how to answer the question.

“No response? How strange. Good soldiers are supposed to answer when their superiors ask a question.”

The shock was too great for Krillin to answer and with no strength left to keep himself in check started to shake out of fear.

“Still no answer? A pity but no matter I will do the talking for you.”

Strolling past the monk the emperor walked toward the center of the room before turning to face Krillin his grin transforming into a large smile.

“You must be wondering how you were found out, correct? Truthfully, it wasn’t that difficult,” Frieza said as he tapped on the scouter. “These scouters are quite handy in keeping track of who has been scanned before. When one of them scans a life form it takes into account the planet they were found on as well as the specific race they are a part of. That information is uploaded onto a database that the Frieza Forces uses to track down any species we have seen before. That database applies to most of the facilities we have. So if there is a member of a species that has been scanned before our technology will recognize them. This includes the healing chamber, little  **earthling**.”

A wave of despair swallowed the small monk as the emperor let out a little chuckle.

“I believed you mentioned you were from a planet called Saturn correct? Upon closer examination, that appears to be a simple gas giant where no life survives. Unlike Earth which seems to be thriving with a variety of different species. The most numerous being a race called, humans. How odd, it’s as if you were trying to hide your origins from me. But for what reason I wonder?”

Krillin let out a whimper as he stepped back. His instincts to survive overriding everything else. With one movement Frieza stopped him cold with a single finger pointed at his heart, already glowing red with energy.

“Not so fast my loyal solider, we’re not done here,” Frieza said as he continued to hold his the monk in place with just his finger. “We still have more of your lies to  _discuss_.”

“What?” Sweat started to pour off of Krillin’s face his heart pounding in his chest.

“Ah, so you remember how to speak! Well done. As I was saying learning of your true birth planet wasn’t enough to convince me you were a snake in hiding. You aren’t the first to try and sneak their way into my forces after all. Perhaps you were just ashamed to have come from such a pitiful rock. However, it was damming enough to take a precaution. So I removed one dragonball from where you believed it to be and hide it away in a location only I knew about, at least for a time. That turned out to be the right move.”

_He was suspicious of me from the start. I’m a fool, he never trusted me with anything. He’s played me completely and now everyone is going to suffer because of it._

“In addition, you lied about your knowledge of Vegeta as well. I’m not sure what your relationship with the saiyan monkey is but I do know you are more familiar with him then you first let on. After all, the little prince had visited your planet before coming to Namek which begs the question as to why you pretended to not know him. Another lie for the pile I suppose.”

Krillin twitched but without any way to escape or fight, he could do little at the moment.

“After you, or more likely someone you are working with escaped with most of the dragonballs it was time to make certain of your treachery. And so I made my way toward that namekian village you mentioned visiting. To see if there was any truth to your story.”

In an instant, Frieza’s smile turned, morphing into a firm frown.

“Imagine my surprise to find a bustling village of these putrid slugs unharmed in any way! You told me that you had wiped out that village and yet your words seem to be filled with nothing but fabrications!

Frieza’s power spiked nearly knocking the monk off of his feet.

“Although, it seems you did tell the truth in one instance, your name. It’s actually Krillin isn’t it?”

The monk’s face twisted in horror only for a second but that was long enough to give the game away.

“Krillin the little earthling, a pleasure to meet you,” Frieza grinned. “A shame that I only learned this through our friend here.”

The emperor gestured to Tsuno whose body convulsed with a hard cough.

 “I took a chance and mentioned your name and to my surprise seemed to get a response from this one. With my new guest in tow, we returned here to confirm my suspicions. Your reaction to seeing this slug tells me all I need to know. A shame the rest of the village couldn’t be here to see this.”

“…what.”

“Come now little soldier surely you must understand what I’m getting at. I simply did what you could not or chose not to do and erased that lovely village myself.”

_No…no._

Krillin looked at Tsuno the namekian’s head hanging low in grief. The monk’s world took a sickening turn as he realized the purple specks on Frieza’s hands were something he recognized. Years ago during the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, he had seen it as Piccolo fought against Goku. He had seen it sprayed across the ground, flashing through the air, and dripping down Piccolo’s arm when he ripped off his own limb.

_Blood, namekian blood is purple._

The monk covered his mouth as his mind flashed with a memory of Tsuno’s village filled with namekians young and old.

“In a way human, you are just as responsible for their fates. I may have never known about that little community if it weren’t for you. Take comfort in that.”

The monk’s shaking grew worse and he couldn’t help but look at Tsuno. The elder of that happy village was slumped over completely silent. Despite the differences between the two species Krillin saw the namekians eyes trembling and knew if he stopped holding back, tears would flow.

Frieza saw he had hold lost the human’s attention and allowed his frown to fade. Only to replace it with a stern tone.

“Finally, using the new scouter I located a new group of people with power levels far greater than any of these namekian warriors.”

The monk’s breathing cut short and he refocused on the tyrant.

“Learning that makes a few things unmistakably true. You have lied to me repeatedly and you are working with a group of people to undermine my collection of the dragonballs most likely for your own use. That makes you a rival, human.”

Flexing his power once more Frieza grinned.

“Knowing you would have no choice but to return here once you realized you were missing the last drgaonball. All I had to do was patiently wait, and here, you, are. Have I left anything out?”

Utterly defeated and with a heavy head, the human had no choice but to give up.

“….no.”

“As I thought,” Frieza said lowering his finger. “I must admit this has been fairly entertaining if nothing else. I’m curious if all earthlings are as astute as you.”

Krillin said nothing in response.

“No matter, the Ginyu Force will kill your companions and collect the dragonballs. I feel your efforts have at least allowed you to witness the moment I get to make my wish. Rejoice, you will be here firsthand to witness my greatest achievement yet.”

_…wait. Collect the dragonballs? But…Tien and the others hid them. He doesn’t know that…I…I can use this._ Trying his best to stand tall Krillin locked eyes with the tyrant readying himself.  _One more lie. One more fib. He thinks he’s got me figured out I have to make him doubt that._

Despite the fear running through him, despite the guilt at the fate of Tsuno’s village, despite the horror at his own powerlessness, despite everything, Krillin started to laugh. It wasn’t a hard laugh the small human couldn’t achieve that much just a small chuckle and a weak smile.

However, this was enough to wipe away Frieza’s smirk only to be replaced with confusion.

“Are you broken already, earthling?”

_I can’t make a move yet, I have to confuse him. Catch him off guard somehow._

“Not yet my lord,” Krillin said with a mock bow. Trying to collect himself and prop up his voice with fake confidence. “I just find it humorous that despite all you have managed to figure out you’ve missed the biggest factor of all.”

“And that would be?”

“You’re underestimating me.”

“Underestimating?” Frieza laughed, “Hardly, I’ve seen what you can do first hand. You hold some strength but you’ve not worth noting.”

“I’m not talking about what you’ve seen my lord,” Krillin said grabbing control of his trembling. “I’m talking about what you haven’t.”

Frieza’s eyes narrowed. “Do tell.”

_Good, he’s not sure what to think._ Krillin thought before continuing. “You’re correct in most of your assumptions Lord Frieza. I am from the planet Earth, my name is Krillin, and I do indeed have some companions here on Namek helping me. However, that’s all you’ve done. Assume. Which means in that small time when I had six of the seven dragonballs in my possession you can only guess as to what I’ve done with them.”

“What are you blathering on about?”

“I’m talking about your assumption that the dragonballs are still on Namek.”

It was another lie, another fib and its only purpose was to buy time. Yet its effect was tangible as the emperor became unsettled.

_He said has experience with people lying to him. However, I’m the first human he’s ever really talked to. He can look down on me all he wants but right now my word is all he as at the moment. I need to make him desperate for answers and distracted then I can make my move._

“You’re bluffing,” Frieza said his voice growing dark.

“I may be,” Krillin said keeping his voice light. “Yet you can only assume that, you don’t know for sure. That’s the problem with assumptions, my lord.”

“Very well,” Frieza said with an annoyed sigh. “I’ll assume you’re lying and kill you. Problem solved.”

“You could, but that would be a risk wouldn’t it? If I’m telling the truth and you kill me you’d have to start your search for dragonballs anew. Are you ready to take that gamble?”

The emperor hesitated and the monk jumped on the opportunity. Reaching into his ear Krillin pressed lightly on the communicator lodged there.

“Bulma? Can you hear me?”

_Krillin? Yeah, I can hear you. What’s going on?_  Bulma’s voice came in crystal clear for the small monk while Frieza seemed unable to hear the blue-haired genius’s response.

“Inform the others that the Ginyu Force is on they’re way. Have they taken care of the dragonballs?”

_WHAT? The Ginyu Force is here already?_

“So they’re off-planet now?” 

  _Off planet? I don’t understand what you’re saying Krillin. Sure Tien and everyone else hid the dragonballs is that what you need to know?_

“Perfect,” Krillin said acting like he received good news. “Everyone else should be arriving shortly as well. Together we should be able to handle the Ginyu Force. They aren’t as strong as we feared.”

_Everyone else? Krillin what are you talking about?_

“Excellent….Thank you, Bulma, for everything,” The monk said faking a calm composure.

_Kri-_

Krillin took his hand off the device cutting Bulma off. He then pulled out the communicator and presented it to Frieza with a soft smile.

“Do you really expect me to believe any of that?” The emperor spat. “Even if you are telling the truth the Ginyu Force will kill all who stand in their way.”

“They may,” Krillin answered inserting the communicator back into his ear. “But they won’t find the dragonballs.”

Frieza seethed his patience sizzling away.

“The fact of the matter is I have six dragonballs and you have one. I can’t make my wish but neither can you. Right now in this moment that’s the most important thing. Kill me, kill my companions or don’t. None of us will tell you anything and it won’t change that you’ll have to start your hunt all over again.”

“You believe your companions will have the same conviction as you? Isn’t that an assumption?”

“No,” Krillin said smoothly. “Unlike you, I know what earthlings are capable of.”

“…You seem almost eager to die, human,” Frieza said his voice curling in anger.

“Eager? No. Just prepared.”

 As soon as those words have left his mouth Krillin felt his throat collapse into itself. His entire body was pushed backward smashing against the wall behind him. His eyes blurred from the pain but he could see the twist of rage in Frieza’s face.

“WHERE.”

Regaining his sight Krillin could clearly see that the emperor was holding up a single hand at him. That was enough to hold the monk firmly against the wall using psychic ability.

“WHERE DID YOU TAKE MY DRAGONBALLS?”

The mounting pressure against the small human’s frame was enough to force out a handful of blood from his mouth. The wall digging into his back as Frieza’s anger grew more and more.

_This ability it’s…like Chiaotzu. I need to make an opening…one opening...distract him somehow. I need, something…something-_

“ANSWER ME EARTHING!”

Krillin’s eyes grew wide as a plan started to form in his mind.

_Something to confuse him._

Using his remaining strength the monk reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wad of paper. Holding it up for the emperor to see the human called out weakly, “m…map.”

“A map?” Frieza said releasing his grip on Krillin’s body allowing the monk to drop back onto his feet.

Coughing hard and trying to catch his breath Krillin kept the paper close to his heart, his eyes never leaving Frieza’s.

“I’ll…I’ll give it to you. If you let me…go, but if you attack me. I’ll burn it…before you get a chance to see it.”

“Humph, so your boasting was all talk after all…very well,” Frieza said clearly unhappy.

Slowly marching toward the alien with the paper still in his hand Krillin had a hard time keeping himself steady.

_This is the biggest gamble of my life. If he doesn’t kill me outright I’ll have one moment, one single moment to act._

Unfurling an extended hand Frieza waited patiently for the monk to hobble his way over. Face to face with the heartless monster Krillin placed the paper into Frieza’s palm his own hand trembling again.

Wordlessly Frieza spread out the paper to get a better look at it. The paper was heavily damaged with multiple rips and tears running through it. Yet the content of the page was still clear as day. As the emperor scanned the map looking for any sort of answers as to the location of his dragonballs to his dismay, he found none.

“…what, what is this?”

Instead, staring back at him with a wink and a bright smile was a gorgeous blond woman. Wearing a matching black bra and panties she was leaning over offering the leader of the Frieza Force a prime view of her breasts. Baffled and confused by this creature Frieza gritted his teeth his anger at a height he had never felt before. Ripping the page in half Frieza descended upon Krillin ready to kill. However, that was long enough.

“SOLAR FLARE!”

As light exploded out of the small monk several things happened at once. Splitting off two copies of himself the Krillins soared through the air each with a different goal in mind. One dashed toward the dragonball in the center of the room and picked it up with one arm. With the orb in hand, Krillin leaped at Tsumo heaving the weakened namekian onto his shoulder. Roaring a blast of ki out of his mouth the monk smashed a hole out of Frieza’s ship. This took four seconds.

At the same time, another Krillin flew out of the chamber dashing down the long hallway toward the healing chamber. Bursting through the door the human located Vegeta still submerged in liquid.

_It hasn’t been an hour I don’t even think it’s been 30 minutes but I don’t have a choice._

With no way of understanding how to work the strange machine and with time running out the monk opted to tear open the apparatus. The fluid poured out at Krillin grabbed the saiyan prince and heaved him over his shoulder.

_Need to buy more time._

Krillin thought before shooting a blast of energy at his feet. The burst of ki succeeded in shifting the entire ship throwing the spacecraft off at a slant. This took eleven seconds.

The last Krillin squared off with Frieza. The emperor roared as he grabbed his eyes in pain seething in rage unable to gather his bearings. In response, the last Krillin gathered as much of his energy as he could while forming it into a disc of ki. Whipping his arm forward the monk threw the disc aiming right for Frieza’s head. This took two seconds.

Frieza regained his sight in one.

With a wave of his hand, Frieza smashed the disc into pieces before locking eyes with the human in front of him. Holding out a single finger the emperor fired a sliver of energy that easily cut through both the air and Krillin’s chest. Doubling over the hole in his torso the monk was unprepared for Frieza’s heavy punch to collide with the side of his head. The power in the fist was enough to fling the monk through the wall behind him and land back in the hallway his wound still pumping blood onto the floor.

The explosion of energy the Krillin with Tsuno and the dragonball in hand fired was loud enough to make Frieza turn around. Unable to understand how there was a direct copy of the earthling he surely killed gave that Krillin enough time to fly through the opening he had created.

“GET BACK HERE!”

Frieza blasted out a tremendous amount of energy that burned through the side of the ship. Ducking down as low as he could Krillin avoided the majority of the beam but the dense blast cut into his left shoulder peeling off a layer of skin. The sudden spike of pain nearly forced the monk to drop Tsuno but gritting his teeth and biting back the agony Krillin powered through. With half of the ship destroyed in his anger Frieza had a clear view of the escaping earthling and again aimed a powerful finger with the intent to kill. However, the explosion from the healing chamber shook Frieza’s flagship tilting the entire vessel. This was enough to make the emperor stumble nearly falling onto his side. Looking in the direction of the explosion and without hesitation, the dictator set out a full-powered blast of energy toward the healing chamber. Hearing the walls of the spaceship collapse into themselves as the beam of light disintegrated all in its path only one thought screamed out in Krillin’s head.

_MOVE!_

With Vegeta in tow, the monk smashed through the walls of the ship back outside into Namek the blast from Frieza melting the entire room behind him. With no walls to hide behind Frieza again found another copy of the human carrying Vegeta away. Confused but alive with fury Frieza raised both hands ready to erase both Krillins at once.

“TIME TO DIE HUMA-”

The emperor was interrupted by a blast of ki hitting the scouter attached to his head causing the machine to explode into small bits and pieces. Unable to process what just happened Frieza turned to see the last remaining Krillin with an outstretched arm and smoke rising out of his hand. Still retaining the hole in his chest and with the last of his strength spent the monk’s arm fell limp, yet the human still had enough power for a small grin to take its place. Realizing he had been played Frieza turned back to see the sky clear of Krillins and the trail turned cold. Being fooled by a creature so much weaker than him in addition to the loss of the dragonball was enough to force out a bellowing scream from the enraged tyrant.

“You’re going to lose.”

The small voice coming from the human broke out Frieza out of his stupor and refocused him. Gliding over to the human hovering above the tattered remains of his ship Frieza stared at Krillin with utter contempt.

“We’ve got allies on the way, and with seven dragonba-”

Krillin stopped as a focused blast of energy slid out of Frieza’s fingertip and into his shoulder burning another hole. The monk groaned only for that to be replaced by a scream as another beam tore into his knee. Pointing over various points on the monk’s body the dictator slowly and meticulously cut apart Krillin until the little human was a mess of bone and blood. Looking over his handy work brought Frieza no joy and the alien frowned at the sight of Krillin’s broken body. Wordless the tyrant grabbed the monk by the throat and lifted. Taking a moment to inspect Krillin’s ear in search of the communicator he had been shown. Finding nothing Frieza let go allowing the human to fall onto his back with a heavy crunch.

“I’m guessing that one of the others that ran away is the original. A simple trick like that will only get you so far.”

“Maybe,” Krillin gurgled. “Doesn’t change…that…it …worked …”

“You’ve only delayed the inevitable earthling. When I find you, the real you. I’ll turn you inside out. Then I’ll do the same to your pathetic planet”

“No,” Krillin coughed. “We’re going to…stop you. We’ll…we’ll beat you.”

“You seem to truly believe that. Or you’re just bluffing again. It seems you humans are just a pile of grotesque meat and lies on the inside.”” Frieza said shooting another energy blast into the monk’s stomach. “Very well, then allow me to show you something that may change your puny little mind.”

Gathering his already massive energy Frieza roared and began to glow. A dark red aura surrounded the emperor as Krillin felt the alien’s power spike upward and continued to grow. Pieces of the ruined spacecraft started to fly away as a gust of wind generated by the screaming tyrant washed over the area. Frieza’s voice echoed across the planet as his torso bulged almost three times its size. Horrified the monk could do nothing as Frieza began a transformation before his very eyes. His body twisting and changing Frieza cried out as his arms and legs grew to the same size as his upper body. Soon the only thing that resembled the previous Frieza was his head which was now small in comparison to the rest of him. However, it wasn’t long before the emperor’s skull swelled as well. Even Frieza’s horns grew in length before spiking skyward. Slowly the dark red aura dimmed revealing a new Frieza that stood far taller and more built than the previous form. Most terrifying of all was the immense surge in power Krillin could sense emitting from the emperor. The ki that Krillin sensed from Frieza before was already far beyond anything he had sensed before. Now the small human’s mind was having trouble comprehending what he was looking at.

_This is a nightmare. This has to be a nightmare._

It was the only thought the ran through the monk’s mind as everything else had been cast aside due to the pure feeling of absolute dread chocking him.

“So…let’s work with what we know,” Frieza said his voice much deeper than before. “We know you struggled in your fight against Zarbon especially after he transformed. How do you think you’ll do against me now?”

Krillin didn’t let out a sound still unable to accept that such an evil monster had been granted so much power.

 “We also know you now have all of my dragonballs in your possession,” The emperor said squatted down so he could get a better view of the monk’s horror-filled expression. “Which means I will be hunting you for the rest of your miserable life, planet or off-planet, wish or no wish. You and everyone you love will  **never**  be safe again.”

The threat was enough to spur some fight back into the monk. Assembling every bit of ki into his eyes the monk fired out a burst of energy point-blank at the tyrant. With almost a yawn Frieza held up his hand and stopped the attack in its tracks but he didn’t stop there. Easily Frieza moved his palm through the beams of energy until his hand swallowed up Krillin’s entire head. With a firm grip in place, the ki blast sizzled out.

“Still some fight in you? Admirable, but ultimately pointless, after all-” Frieza said moving in close toward Krillin’s ear. “ **This isn’t even my final form**.”

A new wash of fear overcame the little man but not for long. With nothing else to say Frieza detonated a handful of dense energy directly into the human’s skull. Out of options and out of time the monk felt the immense pain consume him entirely. Then he felt nothing else after.

* * *

 

Krillin wheezed as he felt his copy die. His vision swimming and his strength fading fast he was forced to land on a nearby island. The two Krillins landed dropping everything they were carrying. Tsuno, Vegeta, and the last dragonball were put onto the ground as the original monk gripped his shoulder in pain while falling to his knees. Frieza’s blast had eaten well into the muscle burning it almost to the bone. As his copy merged back into himself Krillin couldn’t stop the sting behind his eyes as the weight of his situation finally caught up to him.

“Krillin,”

The monk turned to see Tsuno on his feet looking down at the small human. “I can heal you.”

Without waiting for a response the namekian knelt down and placed his hands on the wound. Emitting a soothing pulse of energy the elder began the process of knitting the monk back together. The sensation had an instant effect as the shoulder’s burning eased granting a small relief.

“Tsuno,” Krillin began. “Your…village. I-”

“Do not speak of it,” Tsuno said sharply. “I…I am not ready.”

Krillin wanted to explain himself but relented and accepted the order.

Silently the human and namekian remained on the small island. Dwelling on the horrors they had seen, and the horrors yet to come.

 


End file.
